1. Humility, The Friend Of Prayer No. 1787

“I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant, for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bonds.”Genesis 32:10

JACOB’S character was far from faultless, but equally removed from despicable. He possessed great strength of character and force of judgment, and this became somewhat a snare to him, so that he did not always move through life with the childlike repose of Isaac, or the royal serenity of Abraham, but was at times crafty and pettifogging, like his relatives on the mother’s side. Yet I demur to that depreciation of Jacob’s character which is so common in certain quarters, because he used the means, as well as prayed. Our God is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob; and very frequently he is called the God of Israel, and even the God of Jacob. “He is not ashamed to be called their God:” and if he is not ashamed to be called Jacob’s God, no fellow-believer has any right to be ashamed of Jacob. With all his imperfections — and he certainly had them — he was a noble man. Some good people are built upon too small a scale to display either good or bad qualities in any high degree, — let not such carp at a great man like Jacob. He has impressed his character upon multitudinous generations, and a whole nation bears his lineaments. He was a man full of energy, active, enduring, resolute, and hence his infirmities became more conspicuous than they would have been in a quieter and more restful nature..

Say what you will of him, he was a master of the art of prayer, and he that can pray well is a princely man. He that can prevail with God will certainly prevail with men. It seems to me that when once a man is taught of the Lord to pray he is equal to every emergency that can possibly arise. Depend upon it, it will go hard with any man who fights against a man of prayer. All other weapons may be dashed aside; but the weapon of All-prayer, invisible though it may be, and despised of the worldling, hath in it a might and majesty which will secure the victory. The sword of prayer hath such an edge that it will cut through costs of mail. Jacob was a prevailing prince when he came upon his knees.

Dr. Ditto, in his admirable Bible Illustrations, has a chapter upon this chapter which is entitled, “The First Prayer.” I take leave to differ a little from that title. This can hardly be said to be the first prayer that is recorded in Scripture. I admit that the excellent writer excludes the prayer of Abraham for Sodom as rather an intercession than a prayer; but there are other prayers of Abraham, and other instances of supplication. Yet it may be truly said that this is the first prayer in the Bible of a man for himself, which is given at full length; and being the first, it may be viewed in some degree as a pattern for succeeding pleaders. If you examine it carefully, you will find that it is a valuable model which may be copied by any child of God in the day of his trouble. Jacob begins by pleading the covenant: — ”O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac”: what better plea can we have than the covenant of a faithful God, which he has already fulfilled to our fathers? He next pleads a special promise which had been made to himself. That promise was wrapt up in the folds of a precept which he was obeying: “Thou midst unto me, return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee.” While we plead the general covenant made with all believers in Christ, we may also particularly and especially plead any promise which has been laid home to our own soul by the Spirit of the blessed God. Next, he proceeded to plead his own unworthiness; by faith he turned even his faultiness into an argument, as I shall have to show you: “I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies.” Furthermore, he went on to plead with God, stating his special danger: “Deliver me, I pray thee Tom the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.” He also sot the little children and their danger before God — a strong plea with such a God of love as we have: “Lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.” Then he concluded with what must ever remain a potent plea with God: “Thou saidst.” He urged God’s. promise, and virtually cried, “Do as thou hast said.” It is wise to spread the promise before him who gave it, and to beg for its fulfillment. We may appeal to God’s faithfulness, and cry, “Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.”

The very first sentence of Jacob’s prayer has this peculiarity about it, that it is steeped in humility; for he does not address the Lord as his own God at the first, but as the God of Abraham and Isaac. The prayer itself, though it is very urgent, is never presumptuous; it is as lowly as it is earnest. I take it that even when Jacob in his desperation grasped the angel, and said, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me,” there was no undue familiarity in his holy boldness. There was an extraordinary courage, and an invincible determination; but it was of the kind which God approves, otherwise he would not have blessed him there. No man wins a blessing through a sinful act towards God. Throughout this prayer I see, with all its intensity, a loving remembrance of who Jacob is, and who Jehovah is, and the suppliant speaks in terms fit to be used towards the thrice holy God by a man of lowly heart.

This is to be the subject of our discourse — humility is the fit attitude of prayer. We will begin with that — ”I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant.” Then we will advance in the second place to remark that humility is promoted by the same considerations which encourage prayer — that I shall show you from the tex; and thirdly, humility suggests and supplies many arguments which can be used in prayer. A proud man has few reasons to bring before God; but the humbler a man is, the more numerous are his prevailing pleas. Prayer is a suitable employment for a sinner, and a sinner is the best person to exercise prayer.

I. Our first observation is that HUMILITY IS THE FIT ATTITUDE OF PRAYER. I do not think that Jacob could have prayed Mess he had stripped off the robes of self-justification which he wore in his controversy with Laban, and had stood disrobed before the infinite majesty of the Most High. Observe that he here speaks not as before man, but as before God, and he cries, “I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies.” He had been talking with Laban, — Laban who had made a slave of him, who had used him in the most mercenary manner, and who had now pursued him in fierce anger because he had quitted his service with his wives and children that he might go back to his native country. To Laban he does not say, “I am not worthy. of what I possess,” for, as far as churlish Laban was concerned, he was worthy of a great deal more than had ever been rendered to him in the form of wage. To Laban he uses many truthful sentences of self-vindication and justification. Laban’s substance had greatly increased under Jacob’s unceasing care. He cared for Laban’s flocks with constant diligence, and he says, “In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from mine eyes.” He declares that he had never taken a ram of the flock wherewith to feed his own family, that he had, in fact, for many years worked with no wages except the daughters who became his wives; and he goes the length of saying, “Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty.” The same man who speaks in that fashion to Laban turns round and confesses to his God, “I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies.” This is perfectly consistent and truthful. Humility is not telling falsehoods against yourself: humility is forming a right estimate of yourself. As towards Laban it was a correct estimate for a man who had worked so hard for so little to claim that he had a right to what God had given him; and yet as before God it was perfectly honest and sincere of Jacob to say, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant.” Now, whenever you go to prayer, if you have previously been compelled to say some rather strong thing as to your own integrity and industry; or, if you have heard others speak in your praise, forget it all; for you cannot pray if it has any effect upon you. A man cannot pray with a good opinion of himself: all he can manage is just to mutter, “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,” and that is no prayer at all. A lofty view of your own excellence will tempt you to look down with contempt upon your neighbor; and that is death to prayer. God drives out of his temple all proud prayers: he cannot endure such provocations. Thou must put thy shoe from off thy foot when thou standest on holy ground, — that same shoe which it is quite light for thee to wear when thou hast to tread upon the lion and the dragon, — that same shoe which fits thee well, and which it befits thee to wear when travelling through this great and terrible wilderness. Put off before thy God even that which thou art forced to wear before churlish men. When we see Jesus we say of him, “whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.” “Lord, I am not worthy,” is our cry. Like Abraham, we acknowledge that we are but dust and ashes; less than the least of all saints, honored by being allowed to discharge any menial function in our Master’s house. See, then, that it was essential for Jacob to get into his. right attitude after having disputed with Laban. It was fit that in lilting his eyes to heaven he should use the lowliest language, and by no means pretend to any desert in the presence of the thrice Holy One.

Brethren, it would ill become any of as to use the language of merit before God; for merit we have none, and if we had any, we should not need to pray. It has been well observed by an old divine, that the man who pleads his own merit does not pray, but demands his due. If I ask a man to pay me a debt, I am not a suppliant, but a plaintiff claiming my rights. The prayer of a man who thinks he is meritorious is like serving the Lord with a writ: it is not offering a request, it is issuing a demand. Merit in effect says, “Pay me that thou owest.” Little will such a man get of God; for if the Lord only pays to us what he owes us, yonder place of torment will be our speedy heritage. If while living here we receive no more than we deserve, we shall be offcasts and outcasts. The meanest of mendicants obtain more than their deserts. Even life itself is a gift from the Creator; “wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?” Let us be brought low as we may, we still must own that “it is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” Any other attitude but that of humility would be most unbecoming and presumptuous in the presence of the Most High.

Let me add, also, that in times of great pressure upon the heart there is not much fear of self-righteousness intruding. Jacob was greatly afraid and sore distressed; and when a man is brought into such a state the lowliest language suits him. They that are filled with bread may boast, but the hungry beg. Let the proud take heed lest while the bread is yet in their mouths the wrath of God come upon them. He that is brought to penury, he that is distressed in spirit, he that lies at death’s door, is not a man to show the peacock’s feather and display his finery. Then he looks about him to the loving-kindness of the Lord, and he pleads for mercy. This is his one cry — ”Mercy, mercy.” He finds that he cannot pray until he has come to his true standing as an undeserving one; but having reached that he has a firm foothold, for he pleads the absolute sovereignty of divine grace, and the boundless love of the divine heart as substantial arguments for mercy. I am persuaded that in our prayers we fail at times because we do not get low enough. On thy face before the throne thou shalt prevail. If thou hast any righteousness of thine own, thou shalt never have Christ’s righteousness. If thou hast no sin, thou shalt have no washing in the precious blood. If thou art strong, thou shalt be left to thine own weakness.

If thou art rich and increased in goods, thou shalt be sent empty away. But when thou canst truly confess thy nothingness, and lie low before God, he must thee. “Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.” No prayers speed better in the heights than those which rise from the depths. When thou art naked the Lord will clothe thee; when thou art hungry he will feed thee, when thou art nothing he will be thine all in all, for then it is that he will win glory to himself, and his mercies will not be perverted to feed thy pride. When our mercies magnify the Lord we shall have many of them, but when we use them for the magnifying of our own selves they will depart from us. See, then, dear friend, how necessary it is that we should approach the Lord in the attitude of humility.

I call your attention to the present tense as it is used in the text — Jacob does not say, as we might half have thought he would have said, “I was not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast made to pass before thy servant,” but he says “I am not worthy.” He does not merely allude to his unworthiness when he crossed this Jordan with a staff in his hand, a poor solitary banished man: he believes that he was unworthy then; but even now, looking upon his flocks and his herds and his great family, and all that he had done and suffered, he cries, “I am not worthy.” What, has not all God’s mercy made you worthy? Brethren, free grace is neither the child nor the father of human worthiness. If we get all the grace we ever can get we shall never be worthy of that grace; for grace as it enters where there is no worthiness, so it imparts to us no worthiness afterwards as we are judged before God. When-we have done all, we are unprofitable servants, we have only done what it was our duty to have done. I cannot bear the man who, in his foolish prattle about his own perfection, talks as if he had become worthy of grace. The Lord have mercy upon such boasters, and bring them to the true moorings, so that they may own that they are not worthy. When you and I shall get to heaven, though God may say, “They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy,” yet it will never be right for any one of us to say that we are worthy of anything that God has bestowed upon us. Our psalm must be Non nobis Domine: — ”Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.” To touch the praise which comes to us through the operations of divine grace, even with our little finger, were treason against the Most High. To assume for a moment that we deserve anything of the Lord God, is so vain-glorious, so false, so unjust that we ought to loathe the very thought of it, and cry like. Jacob, “I am not worthy.” Job, who had defended himself with vigor and possibly with bitterness, no sooner heard God speaking to him in the whirlwind than he cried, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Prostrate before the throne is the proper attitude of prayer: in humility is our strength for supplication.

II. Secondly, the same thought will be kept up, but put in a somewhat differing light, while we note that THOSE CONSIDERATIONS WHICH MAKE TOWARDS HUMILITY ARE THE STRENGTH OF PRAYER. Observe, first, that Jacob in this prayer showed his humility by a confession of the Lord’s working in all his prosperity. He says with a full heart, “All the mercies and all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant.” Well, but Jacob, you have immense flocks of sheep, but you earned them, and through your care they greatly increased: do you not consider that those flocks are entirely your own procuring? Surely you must see that you were highly industrious, prudent, and careful, and thus grew wealthy? No; he takes a survey of his great estate, and he speaks of it all as mercies, — mercies which the Lord had showed unto his servant. I do nor object to books about self-made men, but I am afraid that self-made men have a great tendency to worship him that made them. It is very natural they should. But, brethren, if we are self-made, I am sure we had a very bad maker, and there must be a great many flaws in us. It would be better to be ground back to dust again, and made over anew so as to become God-made man. Listen, O proud self-made mortal! What if thou hast earned everything, who gave thee strength to earn it? What if thy success be due to thy shrewd sense, who gave thee skill and foresight? What if thou hast been frugal and industrious, yet why wast thou not left to be as prodigal as others, and to waste in riot what God bestowed on thee? Oh, sir, if thou art lifted an inch above the dunghill thou shouldst bless God for it, for it is from the dunghill thou hast come. God helps his servants while they are weak, but when they fancy themselves strong, he frequently humbles them. When we cry, “Behold this great Babylon that I have builded,” God may not cast us off, but he will cast us down. He did not cast off Nebuchadnezzar, but he did allow him to lose his reason and mingle with the beasts of the field. If we act brutishly, the Lord may allow us to become like beasts in other matters. The use of our reasoning powers is a boon of heavenly charity which should lead us to deep gratitude, but never induce in us pride as to our superior abilities. If we are out of Bedlam we. ought to bless the Lord in the humblest manner. Shall we dare to glory in our talents? Shall the axe boast against him that heweth therewith? Shall the net exalt itself against the fisherman who drags the sea therewith? That were, indeed, a folly, a God-provoking folly. Inasmuch as God does so much for us, we ought to be humbled by the weight of obligation which love heaps upon us.

This may also yield us a hold upon God in prayer, for now we can say, “Lord, thou hast done all this for me: it is plain that thy hand has been in all thy servant’s happiness; let thy hand be with me still.” Oh, self-made man, when you have made yourself, can you keep yourself and preserve yourself in being? And do you hope to get to heaven and throw up your cap and say, “Hosanna to myself”? Do you reckon upon such vainglory? If you seek your own glory you shall find no place in that city where God’s glory is the all-pervading bliss of the place. So, then, that which tends to keep us humble also becomes an assistance to us in our prayer.

The next point is a consideration of Goads mercies. For my part, nothing ever sinks me so low as the mercy of God, and next to that I am readily subdued by the kindness of men. When the clarion rings out for battle I will stand foot to foot with him that dare encounter me, and all the man within me is aroused to the conflict, but when all is peace and quiet, and everyone wishes me well, I wonder at their kindness, and I sink into my shoes with fear lest I should act in any way unworthily. The man who has a due sense of his own character will be laid low by words of commendation. When we remember the loving” kindness of the Lord to us we cannot but contrast our littleness with the greatness of his love, and feel a sense of self-debasement. It is written, “They shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it.” The words are true to the letter. Take a case: Peter went a fishing; and if he had caught a few fish, his boat would have Boated high on the lake; but when the Master came into the boat and told him where to throw the net so that he pulled up a multitude of fish, then the little barque began to sink. Down, down, it went, and poor Peter went down with it, till he fell at Jesus’ feet and cried, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” He was confused and overwhelmed, or he would never have asked the blessed Master to leave him: Christ’s goodness had fairly beaten him till he was afraid of his Benefactor. Know ye not what it is to be weighted down with infinite goodness, oppressed with mercy, swept away by an avalanche of love. I, at. least, know what it means, and I knotty of no experience which has made me so little in mine own eyes.

I feel less than the least of all his mercies; I shrink, and tremble in the presence of his bounty. If even providential goodness does this, you may be sure that redeeming love will be even more effectual. Here is a proud sinner, boasting of his own righteousness; you cannot get his self-glorying out of him: but by-and-by he learns that the Son of God gave his life to redeem him, poured out his heart upon Calvary’s cross, the just for the unjust, to bring him to God; and now he is of another mind. No man could ever think that he deserved that the Son of God should die for him! If he does think so, he must be out of his mind. Dying love touches the heart, and the man cries, “Lord, I am not worthy of a drop of thy precious blood; I am not worthy of a sigh from thy sacred heart; I am not worthy that thou shouldest have lived on earth for me, much less that thou shouldest have died for me.” A sense of that wondrous condescension which is the highest commendation of God’s love, that in due time Christ died for the ungodly, brings the man down upon his knees, dissolved by the mercies of God. Now, if there is any man here who has a good hope through grace that by-and- by he will be with God in heaven, if he will meditate upon the beatific vision, if he will picture to himself the crown upon his head, and the palm branch in his hand, and himself enjoying the everlasting hallelujah,

“Far from a world of grief and sin,With God eternally shut in”;

why, the next thing he will do is to sit down and weep that this can be possible to him. Such a poor, useless, sinful soul as I am, can I be glorified, and has Jesus gone to prepare a place for me? Does he give me his own assurance that he will come again, and receive me to himself? Am I a joint heir with Christ, and a favored child of God? This makes us lose ourselves in adoring gratitude. Oh, sirs, we can never open our mouth again in the way of boasting; our pride is drowned in this sea of mercy. If we had a little Savior, and a little heaven, and little mercy we might still hang out our flags; but with a great Savior, and great mercy, and a great heaven we can only go in like David, and sit before the Lord, and say, “Whence is this to me?” I have a dear brother in Christ who is now sore sick, the Revelation Mr. Curme, the vicar of Sandford, in Oxfordshire, who has been my dear friend for many years. He is the mirror of humility, and he divides his name. into two words, Cur me? which means, “Why me?” Often did he say, in my hearing, “Why me, Lord? Why me?” Truly I can say the same, Cur me?

“Why was I made to hear thy voice,And enter where there’s roomWhile thousands make a wretched choiceAnd rather starve than come?”

This exceeding kindness of the Lord all tends to promote humility, and at the same time to help us in prayer; for if the Lord be so greatly good, we may adopt the language of the Phoenecian woman when the Master said to her, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” She answered, “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” So we will go and ask our Lord to give us crumbs of mercy, and they will be enough for us poor dogs. God’s crumbs are bigger than man’s loaves, and if he gives us what to him may be a crumb, it shall be a meal to us. Oh, he is a great Giver! He is a glorious Giver! We are not equal to his least gift! We cannot estimate his least mercy, nor describe it folly, nor praise him for it sufficiently. His shallows are too deep for us; his mole-hill mercies overtop us; what shall we say of his mountain mercies? Again, a comparison of our past and our present will tend to humility and also to helpfulness in prayer. Jacob at first is described thus, “With my staff I passed over this Jordan.” He is all alone, no servant attends him; he has no goods, not even a change of linen in a parcel, nothing but a staff to walk with, now, after a few years, here is Jacob coming back, crossing the river in the opposite direction, and he has with him two bands. He is a large Crazier, with great wealth in all manner of cattle. What a change! I would have those men whom God has prospered never to be ashamed of what they used to be; they ought never to forget the staff with which they crossed this Jordan. I had a good friend who preserved the axle-tree of the truck in which he wheeled home his goods when he first came to London.

It was placed over his front door, and he never blushed to tell how he came up from the country, worked hard, and made his way in the world. I like this a deal better than the affected gentility which forgets the lone half-crown which pined in solitude in their pockets when they entered this city. They are indignant if you remind them of their poor old father in the country, for they have discovered that the family is very ancient and honorable; in fact, one of their ancestors came over with the Conqueror. I have never felt any wish to be related to that set of vagabonds; but tastes differ, and there are some who think that they must be superior beings. because they are descended from Motorman freebooters. Nobodies suddenly swell as if they were everybody. Observe that Jacob does not say, “Years ago I was at home with my father Isaac, a man of large estate.” Nor does he talk of his grandfather Abraham as a nobleman of an ancient family in Ur, of the Chaldees, who was entertained by monarchs. No, he was not so silly as to boast of aristocracy and wealth, but he frankly owns his early poverty: — ”With my staff, a poor, lonely, friendless man, I crossed this Jordan, and now I am become two bands.” It humbles him to think of what he was, but at the same time it strengthens him in prayer, for in effect he pleads, “Lord, hast thou made two bands of me that Esau may have the more to destroy? Hast thou given me these children that they may fall by the sword?” So again I say, that which humbled also encouraged him: he found his strength in prayer in those very things which furnished motives for lowliness.

III. And now, as time flies, we must dwell upon the third point, still hammering the same nail on the head: TRUE HUMILITY SUPPLIES US WITH ARGUMENTS IN PRAYER. Look at the first one, “I am not worthy of all thy mercies;” nay, “I am not worthy of the least of all the many mercies which thou hast showed unto thy servant. Thou hast kept thy word and been true to me, but it was not because I was true to thee. I am not worthy of the truth which thou hast strewn to thy servant.” Is there not power in such a prayer? Is not mercy secured by a confession of unworthiness? The man whom Christ most of all commended, as far as I remember, was he who used this very language. The centurion came to Christ and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof”; yet this was he of whom the Lord said, “I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Depend on it, if you want Christ’s commendation you must be lowly in your own esteem; for he never praises the proud, but he honors the humble. Since the Lord was thus gracious to him when he was unworthy, had not Jacob splendid ground to stand upon while he wrestled with God, and cried, Deliver me from Esau, my brother, though because of the wrong I did him I am not worthy of such deliverance? We are always afraid in our time of trouble that God will deal with us according to our unworthiness; but he will not. We say to ourselves, “At last the sins of my youth have come home to me; now I shall be dealt with according to my iniquities!” But Jacob virtually said, “Lord, I never was worthy of the least thing that thou hast done for me, and all thy dealings to me are in pure grace. I stand still where I always must stand, a.460 debtor to thy sovereign undeserved favor; and I appeal to thee, — since thou hast done all this for me, an undeserving one, I beseech thee, do yet more. I have not changed, for I am as undeserving as ever, and thou hast not changed, for thou art as good as ever, therefore still deliver thy servant.” This is mighty pleading with the Most High.

Then please to notice that while Jacob thus pleads his own unworthiness he is not slow to plead God’s goodness. He speaks in most expressive words, wide and full of meaning. “I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies. I cannot enumerate them, the list would be too long! It seems to me as if thou hadst given me all kinds of mercies, every sort of blessing. Thy mercy endureth for ever, and thou hast given it all to me.” How he extols God as with a full mouth when he says, “All thy mercies.” He does not say, “all thy mercy” — the word is in the plural — ”the least of all thy mercies.” For God has many bands of mercies, favors never come alone, they visit us in troops. All the trees in God’s vineyard are full of boughs, and each bough is loaded with fruit. All the flowers in God’s garden bloom double, and some of them bloom sevenfold. We have not mercy only, but mercies numerous as the sand. Mercy for the past, the present, the future; mercy to temper sorrows, mercy to purify joys; mercy for our sinful things, mercy for our holy things. “All thy mercies”: the expression has a vast acreage of meaning. He does not know how to express his sense of obligation except with plurals and universals: the language is so full I could never exhibit all its meaning. He seems to say to the Lord, “Because of all this great goodness, I pray thee go on to deal well with thy servant. Save me from Esau, or all thy mercies will be lost. Hast thou not in thy past love given pledge to me to keep me even to the end?” Mercy and truth all through the Bible are continually joined together, “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.” “God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.” These two gracious ones grasp hands in Jacob’s prayer — ”All thy mercies and all thy truth.” Oh, brethren, if you would wrestle with God and prevail, use much these two master arguments, mercies and truth. These are two keys which will open all the treasures of God; these are two shields behind which you will be out of reach of every fiery arrow. That which made Jacob humble, also made him strong in prayer. Gratitude for mercy made him bow before God, but it also enabled him to grasp the angel with the hand of believing importunity.

Notice, next, how he says “Thy servant.” A plea is hidden away in that word. Jacob might have called himself by some other name on this occasion. He might have said, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy child“: it would have been true, it would not have been fitting. Suppose it had run — ”Unto thy chosen,” it would have been true, but not so lowly; or “unto thy covenanted one,” — that would have been correct, but not so humble an expression as Jacob felt bound to use in this time of his distress, when the sins of his youth were brought to his mind. He seemed to say, “Lord, I am thy servant. Thou didst bid me come hither, and hither I have come because of that bidding: therefore protect me.” Surely a king will not see his servant put upon when engaged in the royal service. Jacob was in the path of duty, and God would make it the path of safety. If we make God our guide, he will be our guard. If he be our Commander he will be our Defender. He will not permit any Esau to smite with the sword one of his Jacobs. When we fully cast ourselves upon the Lord by a believing obedience, we may depend upon it that he will bear us up and bear us through. Masters are commanded to give unto their servants that which is just and equal, and we may be sure that our Master in heaven will do the same to each of us who serve him. Jacob was in danger through his service, and therefore the Lord’s honor was pledged to see him through. It may seem a small thing to be a servant, but it is a great thing to plead in the hour of need; so David used it: “Make thy face to shine upon thy servant.” “Hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble.” “O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.” These are but specimens of the ways in which men of God used their position as servants as an argument for mercy.

Jacob had yet another plea which showed his humility, and that was the argument of facts. “With my staff,” says he, “I passed over this Jordan.” “This Jordan,” which flowed hard by, and received the Jabbok. It brings a thousand things to his mind, to be on the old spot again. When he crossed it before he was journeying into exile, but now he is coming back as a son, to take his place with loved Rebekah and father Isaac, and he could not but feel it a great mercy that he was now going in a happier direction than before. He looked at his staff; and he remembered how in fear and trembling he had leaned upon it as he pursued his hasty, lonely march. “With this staff — that is all I had.” He looks upon it, and contrasts his present condition and his two camps with that day of poverty, that hour of hasty flight. This retrospect humbled him, but it must have been a strength to him in prayer. “O God, if thou hast helped me from abject want to all. this wealth, thou canst certainly preserve me in the present danger. He who has done so much is still able to bless me, and he will do so.”

“Can he have taught me to trust in his name,And thus far have brought me to bring me to shame?”

Does God mock men? Does he encourage their hope and then leave them? No, the God that begins to bless perseveres in blessing, and even to the end continues to love his chosen.

In closing, I think I discover one powerful argument here in Jacob’s prayer. Did he not mean that although God had increased him so greatly, there had come with it all the greater responsibility? He had more to care for than when he owned less. Duty had increased with increased possessions. He seems to say, “Lord, when I came this way before I had nothing, only a staff; that was all I had to take care of; and if I had lost that staff I could have found another. Then I had thy dear and kind protection, which was better to me than riches. Shall I not have it still? When I was a single man with a staff thou didst guard me, and now that I am surrounded by this numerous family of little children and servants, wilt thou not spread thy wings over me? Lord, the gifts of thy goodness increase my necessity: give me proportionately thy blessing. I could before run away and escape from my angry brother; but now the mothers and the children bind me, and I must abide with them and die with them unless thou preserve me.” My brethren, at this hour I know how to use this self-same plea. To me every advance in position among men means more obligation to serve my Lord and bless my generation. I need more grace, or my failure will be the more shameful. Unworthy as we are of all this blessing, yet we dare not trifle with it, and refuse to serve our God with all our powers. The more oxen the more ploughing has to be done; the broader the fields the more laboriously must we sow a the larger the harvest the more industriously must we reap; for all this we need much more strength. If God blesses and increases us in talent, or in substance, or in any way, ought we not to conclude that the larger trust involves greater responsibility? Thus our life’s task grows sterner, and more difficult, and we are driven more than ever to our God. This is our argument — ”O Lord, thou hast imposed upon me a wider service; give me more grace. In thy goodness thou hast committed more talents to him that had ten talents; wilt thou not give more help to put all out to interest for thy name’s sake?” Yes, brother, as God uplifts you, take care that you bow lower and lower at his feet. Consecrate even more entirely your whole being unto God. Be thankful if your pound has gained one pound; and if he doth more for you, be restless till his five pounds have gained five other pounds. Let the goodness of God, instead of becoming a cloke for your pride, or a couch for your sloth, be an incentive to your industry, a stimulus to your zeal. May it help your humility, but at the same time encourage your confidence when you draw near to God in prayer, to feel how largely you are under obligations to serve the Lord. Come, dear friends, the Lord hath been mindful of us as a church, and he will bless us. We have obtained, through our Lord Jesus and his Spirit, blessings so large that I can say in your name, we are not worthy of the least of all these mercies. Shall we not use them to God’s glory? Yes, more than ever: for we are determined to pray more, and to believe more, and to work more, and to be more full of courage and dauntless resolve that the name and the truth of Jesus shall be made known wherever our voice can be heard. As long as tongues can speak and hearts can beat, God helping us, we will live for Jesus our Lord. We are what Rutherford would call “drowned debtors”; let us be living lovers. Our ships have gone down in a sea of love till mercy rolls over our topmasts. So be it. So be it. We are swallowed up in an abyss of love. My figure describes us as sinking, but in very truth it is thus we rise by being filled with all the fullness of God. With a full heart I pray for you, beloved. God bless you, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

THE possession of a God, or the non-possession of a God, makes the greatest possible difference between man and man. Esau is a princely being, but he is “a profane person.” Jacob is a weak, fallible, frail creature, but he has a God. Have you not heard of “the mighty God of Jacob”? There are many wise, careful, prudent men of the world who have no God; and truly these in the highest sense, like the young lions, do lack, and suffer hunger; for their highest nature is left to famish. Those who wait upon the Lord are often very simple, and devoid of ability and policy, but they shall not lack any good thing: their highest nature is well supplied from heavenly sources. This is the great difference between the two races which people the world: I mean the sons of men who say in their hearts, “No God,” and the sons of God, the twice-born, who have received new life, and therefore with heart and flesh cry out for God, even the living God. The child of this world enquires, “Whither shall I flee from his presence?” The child of light cries, “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee.” There are thus two races of men who can never blend, either in this life or in that which is to come. Deep in their innermost nature lies a vital difference: they are of two distinct seeds. My dear hearers, you can divide yourselves without difficulty by this rule: Have you a God, or have you none? If you have no God, what have you? If you have no God, what good have you to expect? What, indeed, can be good to you? If you have no God, how can you face the past, the present, or the future? But if you have God for your portion, your whole history is covered. The God of the past has blotted out your sin, the God of the present makes all things work for your good, the God of the future will never leave you nor forsake you. In God you are prepared for every emergency. O man, if the God of Jacob be thy God, thou shalt be safe at night, though thou mayest sleep as unguarded as the patriarch at Bethel; and thou shalt be secure by day, though thou mayest be met by Esau with his four hundred men! Thou art safe in banishment though Laban be churlish: and safe in the midst of foes, though Canaanites thirst for thy blood; for the Lord hath said, “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.” It matters not where thou goest if the God of Israel be with thee, and say to thee, “Fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will go down with thee; and I will also surely bring thee up again.” He shall guard thee from all evil; the Lord shall preserve thy soul.

Because Jacob had a God, therefore he went to him in the hour of his trouble. He did not know how he should escape from his injured and angry brother Esau. In fact, he believed that Esau was come on purpose to cut him up, root and branch: and so, after doing the best he could, Jacob looked to his best Friend and Helper, and cried unto his God. He who has a God will be sure to fly to him in his distress. There is no use in having a God if you do not use him. I am afraid that many professed Christians place their God afar off, and never dream of repairing to him for practical succor in the hour of danger. As well have no God, as have an unreal God, who cannot be found in the midnight of our need. But what a blessing it is to be able to go to our God at all times, and pour out our hearts before him; for our God will be our Helper, and that right early! He is our near and dear Friend, in joy and in sorrow. Poor Jacob, in the calmer days of his life, had failed to walk with his God, as his father Abraham had done; but now a storm has overtaken him, and he Hies to the Lord his God, as a mariner puts into port to escape the tempest.

Dear friend, art thou in trouble at this time, and hast thou a God? Then go to him in prayer at once, and spread thy case before him. Hast thou a Rab-shakeh’s letter in the house? Go, like Hezekiah, and spread it before the Lord. Hast thou a dying child? Then cry to the Lord as David did. Art thou in the deeps with Jonah? Then let thy prayer arise from the very bottoms of the mountains. Hast thou any bitterness in the vessel of thy heart? Then pour it out before him.

Make thou good use of thy God, and especially gain the fullest advantage from him by pleading with him in prayer. In troublous times, our best communion with God will be carried on by supplication. Tell him thy case; search out his promise, and then plead it with holy boldness. This is the best, the surest, the speediest way of relief.

What would some of us do if we had not a God to go to? Though we are not tried and troubled as some men are, and God has set a hedge about us, yet there are times in our life when we should die of a broken heart if we could not tell our griefs to God. Like Job, we could curse the day of our birth, and wish that we had never been born, if we were utterly bereft of God. We should look forward to annihilation as a hopeful thing if we could not speak with God, our ever-gracious Friend. But when we can get away to him, and tell out the whole matter, and lay hold upon him by the hand of faith, and plead his promise, then the darkened cloud withdraws, and we come out into the light again, and sing, “This God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our Guide even unto death.”

Beloved, we see that Jacob had a God, and that he made use of him in prayer; but the point I want to call your attention to at this time is, that the stress, the force, the very sinew of Jacob’s prayer consisted in his pleading the promise of God with God. When he came to real wrestling with the Lord, then he cried, “Thou saidst.” That is the way to lay a hold upon the covenant angel — “Thou saidst.” The art of wrestling lies much in a proper use of “Thou saidst.” Jacob, with all his mistakes, was a master of the art of prayer: we justly call him “wrestling Jacob.” He said, “I will not let thee go.” He gets grip for his hands out of this “Thou saidst.” With this he lays hold upon his unknown antagonist — a desperate hold which he will not relax, even though his sinew be made to shrink. “Thou saidst” is a good grip with which to hold an honest man, and not less does it lay hold on our faithful God. This will have power over any person in whom is truth; for he that speaks truly will not run back from his promise. When we come to pleading terms with God, there is nothing that so helps us as to be able to quote the promise, and plead, “Thou saidst.” In handling my text, which was Jacob’s prayer, I shall notice, first, that it ought to be our memorial; and, secondly, that it is God’s bond; and, thirdly, that therefore we may make it our plea.

I. First, it ought to be OUR MEMORIAL. I mean, dear friends, that we ought to recollect, much more than we do, what God has said. If we had a silent God, who up to this age had never revealed himself, by actual speech, if it were given out at this hour that now, for the first time, God was about to make a promise, how eagerly would all God-fearing men desire to hear it, and how carefully would they treasure it up! Why, every syllable would be more precious than a pearl; the very tone of the utterance would be mystic music full of meaning. You would charge your memory to embalm each word; nay, to preserve each syllable in all its living force and beauty. Whatever else you forgot, you would lay up every letter of the newly-spoken promise in the archives of your soul. Ought we not to treat God’s word with equal reverence, though spoken ages ago, since it is a fact that he has spoken it? The Lord has spoken often from the foundations of the world by his prophets, and in these last days by his Son; and we are bound to guard jealously every single word which he has thus given to us. He has preserved his own words in the Scriptures; let us also preserve them in our hearts. No subjects in the world can be so worthy of the consideration, the memory, and the reverence of man as those upon which his Maker has deigned to give instruction. The choicest communications ever made to human minds are those which have come from the great Father. I ask you, therefore, brothers and sisters, if I say not rightly that God’s divine “Thou hast said” should be our memorial? We should lay up his word in our hearts as men lay up gold and gems in their caskets: it should be as dear to us as life itself. My heart stands in awe of God’s word, and I am sorrowful because so many trifle with it. No good can come of irreverence towards Scripture: we ought to cherish it in our heart of hearts. We ought to do this, first, with regard to what God hath said. You notice that Jacob puts it, “Thou saidst,” and then he quotes the words — “Surely I will do thee good.” It is an essential part of the education of a Christian to learn the promises. I always admire that fact in the life of General Gordon, who, whatever mistakes he made, was a grand believer, a very Abraham among us in these latter days — that he always carried with him that little book called Clark’s “Precious Promises,” which is an arrangement of the various promises of the Old and New Testaments under different heads. The General used to consult that collection of divine promises, and seek out that holy text which best suited his particular condition; then he sought solitude, and pleaded before the Lord that inspired word, believing that it was true, and that the Lord would do as he had said. By faith he looked for an answer, and acted upon it. He went down through the Soudan alone, as you know, daring all manner of dangers because he believed in God. The heroism of his life grew out of his confidence in the promises. If we would be heroes, here is the food with which to sustain a noble life.

I would have all Christian people know God’s promises. If you had in your house a number of cheques which you believed to be good, I do not suppose that you would long be unaware of their nature and value. No merchant here would say, “I have a number of bills, and drafts, and cheques at home somewhere: I have no doubt that they are all good, and that they are my lawful property; but I do not know much about them. Their value is quite unknown to me.” Such ignorance would argue insanity. Will you know your earthly wealth, and never consider your heavenly riches? In the Bible there are “exceeding great and precious promises”; shall it be said that some of God’s children do not know what those promises contain? They have read them, perhaps, but they have never really searched into their meaning to see what God has promised. Of many good things provided for them they are quite ignorant, and even in reference to their personal and present trouble they are not aware of what the Lord has promised to do for them in such a case. What a pity it would be for a trader to be short of money, and to have a draft for a large amount, but not to know where to find it! It would be a poor way of doing business, would it not? Is it not a shameful thing to be dealing with God in a like slovenly fashion? Brethren, I would that we studied God’s word much more. We read all sorts of books, but many of them are unprofitable. As for a great part of current literature, one might as well open his mouth, and eat the east wind; for there is nothing that can stay his soul therein. One single sentence from God is worth all the books of the Alexandrian library, or of the Bodleian either. All that has been consumed of human literature, and all that stir; exists, if put together, would not equal one book of the Bible. O my hearer, get thou to know what the Lord has said, and thou wilt be on the way to wisdom! Within the compass of “It is written” lies infinite truth. If thou art well instructed in it, it shall be well with thee. Moreover, Jacob also knew when God had spoken a promise, for he quotes twice the fact that God had spoken to him, and said so-and-so. It is clear that he knew when the promise was spoken. I have often found peculiar comfort, not only in a promise, but in noticing the occasion for its being made. I have observed the condition of the man to whom God gave the promise; and I have gathered much instruction therefrom. Sometimes the frame of a picture is almost as beautiful as the painting itself; and so the occasion of the promise may be as instructive as the promise itself. The conditions under which the Lord uttered it may be so similar to our own that they may cause the word of the Lord to come with special comfort to our hearts. “Surely,” say you, “God, who spoke thus to Jacob, or thus to Daniel, or thus to Paul, finding me in the same condition, speaks also thus to me, for the promises are not of private interpretation. They are not allotments hedged in for individuals, but they are a wide and open common, which is the undisputed property of all believers. They are not confined to those to whom they were first spoken, but they reach also to us who are fellow-heirs with them.”

Brethren, take pains to know what God has promised, and to know when God has promised it. Note well both matter and date. These are flowers from which the bee of meditation will suck much sweetness. There is another matter which it is important for us to know, namely, to whom God made the promise. Jacob knew to whom it was spoken. He tells us in a previous verse that God had spoken a certain promise to himself. “Which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee.” A promise that was made to another man will be of no service to me until I can discover that I, being in the same condition as that other man, and being of like character to that other man, and exercising like faith to that other man, do stand before God in the same position as he did, and therefore the word addressed to him is spoken also to me. Brethren, I entreat you continually to study God’s word to see whether the promise is made to your character and condition, and so is made to yourself, as much as if your name were written upon it. Many and many a time has God brought a promise home to my own heart with such freshness that I have felt that the Bible was made on purpose for me. Yes, I have been sure that the promise was written for me, if for no other man that ever lived. When a man sees a garment left at his door which fits him exactly, and is evidently cut to suit certain peculiarities of his form, he concludes that the garment was meant for him. Even so, in many a promise I see certain private marks which are the exact counterparts of the secrets of my soul, and these show that God meant me when thus and thus he spoke.

Beloved, I say to you, one and all, study much the promises of God’s word! Have them at your fingers’ ends. Remember what things God has said to men, and when he has said them, and to what kind of men he has said them, and discover by this means how far he has said them to you. Let this indeed be the forefront of your knowledge. If you cannot read the stars, yet read the promises. If you cannot study the stone book of geology, yet know the Rock of Ages, and the declarations engraven thereon. If you remain a stranger to the deep things of metaphysics and philosophy, yet at least know the household privileges of the family of God. Dear child, do know what your Father has said! It will be very sad if you do not. Happy heir of heaven, do know what it is to which you are an heir according to the promises and the covenant.

Thus much upon the duty of making God’s word to live in your mind and memory.

II. Secondly, “Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good “ — this is GOD’S BOND. Nothing holds a man like his word, and nothing so fully fixes the course of action of the Lord our God as his own promise. We speak with the deepest reverence in reference to the great God, but it would not be reverence if we said less than this — that God has bound himself to be true to his word. He can do all things, but he cannot lie. If God had made no promise, he would have been free to act, or not to act; but by his promise he engages himself to act in a certain way, and he will do so. From the necessity of his nature he will be faithful. What a mighty thing, then, is a promise, since it is a bond which holds God himself! How does it do so?

I answer, it holds him, first, by his truth. If a man says, “I will,” it is not in his power, without a breach of truth, to refuse to make good his word. If a promise be made by one man to another, it is considered to be a matter of honor to fulfill it. Unless a man is willing to tarnish his honor, and disgrace his truthfulness, he will certainly do as he has solemnly promised to do. Alas! many persons think lightly of truthfulness: they even dare to swear lightly: but what do we think of such people? To utter solemn promises, and then to disown them, is not the way to be esteemed and honored. It can never be so with God. None can impeach his veracity. None shall ever be able to do so. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Hath he given his word, and will he not make it good?

Learn, then, when you are praying to God, whether you be saint or sinner, to take the promise, and say, “O my God, thou hast bound thyself to give me this blessing, for thou hast said that thou wilt do so, and I know thou canst not lie! I am sure that thou wilt do even as thou hast said, for thou art a God of truth!” The promise is God’s gracious bond, since his truthfulness cannot be put in question.

But, next, he who enters into an engagement is bound to keep his word, or he is considered to be vacillating and changeable: the Lord is, therefore, held by his immutability. He is God, and changes not. We hear persons say, “I have changed my mind”; but God is of one mind, and who can turn him? Change is written upon all human things; but hearken to the Eternal — “I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever,” and all the promises are yea and amen in him. The great Father of lights is “without variableness, or shadow of turning.” When the Lord made his promise he foresaw every possible contingency, and he made his promise with a determination to stand to it. Ages make no difference to him. His promise is as fresh and unfading as when first he caused it to delight the eyes of his chosen.

This is fine pleading: you can fall upon your knees, and cry, “Lord, there is thy promise; be graciously pleased to fulfill it! I know that thou hast not changed, and that thy word is not withdrawn. Thou hast never run back from thy word, and thou never wilt; therefore fulfill this word unto thy servant, whereon thou hast caused me to hope.” An unchanging God is the foundation of happiness to the believer.

But sometimes men make a promise, and they are unable to fulfill it from want of power; many a time it has cost honest minds great grief to feel that, though they are willing enough to do what they have engaged to do, yet they have lost their ability to perform their word. This is a grave sorrow to a sincere mind. This can never happen to the Almighty God. He fainteth not, neither is weary. To him there is no feebleness of decline, nor failure of decay. God All-sufficient is still his name. His arm is not shortened so that he cannot reach us, neither is his hand palsied that he cannot help us. The strongest sinew in an arm of flesh will crack in course of time, but the Lord never faileth. The weakness of God is stronger than man. The least of God is greater than the most of man. The Lord cannot possibly withdraw from his word though inability; for “with God all things are possible.” Therefore, go to him in prayer, and take his promise, and say, “Lord, be pleased to help thy servant, for I know that thou canst deliver me, and. I trust in thee as God All-sufficient!” The Lord will never allow a slur to be cast upon his power, which is one part of his glorious name. He wills to make his power known, and it is never according to his mind to leave that power in doubt.

Once more, the Lord’s wisdom also holds him to his promise. Men make engagements thoughtlessly, and before long they realize that it would be ruinous to keep them. It is foolish to keep a foolish promise. Yet, because wisdom is not in us we make mistakes, and find ourselves in serious difficulties. It maw so happen that a person may feel compelled to say, “I promised to do that which, upon more careful consideration, I find it would be wicked and unjust for me to do. My promise was void from the beginning, for no man has a right to promise to do wrong.” Whatever justification an erring man may find in his folly to excuse him from fulfilling his rash promise, nothing of the kind can occur with God. He never speaks without knowledge, for he sees the end from the beginning, and he is infallibly good and wise. Therefore, again I say unto you, what a hold we have upon God because of his character! We can plead, “Lord, thou didst not make a mistake when thou didst promise me this boon! Thou knewest all that would happen; all my sins and all my follies were foreseen by thee! Thou didst foreknow all. Therefore be pleased to keep thy word unto thy servant, even as now I bring it before thee, and ask thee to fulfill it!” I wish that I had power to make this matter plain, so that every believer who is in need, and is about to pray, may see the arguments with which he may approach the throne of the heavenly grace.

I should not, however, complete my statement if I did not add that to go to God through Jesus Christ, is to use the best and most powerful of pleas. All the attributes of God are in his Son; and, moreover, the Lord Jesus deserves great things at his Father’s hand. He permits us to urge his merits, and use his name as our authorization: what better leverage can we desire? Is not this an overwhelming argument? The great God will deny nothing to Jesus. For his sake he will give us all things. When we bring his Son in the arms of our faith, and lay him before the Father, we may have whatsoever we need. Let us not be slow to use this august plea. Let not our Lord Jesus have to say to us, “Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name.”

III. So then, last of all, this may be, and this ought to be, in prayer OUR PLEA, as it was Jacob’s plea — even this “Thou saidst.” We may urge the gracious promise of the Lord as pleading against our own unworthiness. Listen to Jacob’s cry, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; but thou saidst, I will surely do thee good.” Is not that splendid pleading? Down in the dust he prostrates himself, and then prays right up. In this fashion let my hearer cry, — “Lord, I am worthy of nothing but wrath, and cannot hope to speed with thee on the ground of works; but, Lord, thou hast said, thou has said, THOU HAST SAID!” This must win the suit. If a man has made me a promise, he cannot refuse to keep it on the ground that I am unworthy; because it is his own character that is at stake, not mine. However unworthy I am, he most not prove himself to be unworthy by failing to keep his word. “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” Everything hinges upon the character of the Promiser. Do you not see this? When you are burdened with a deep sense of sin; when your heart is ready to break with an overwhelming consciousness of guilt; still know that “God abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself.” When the surges of divine wrath beat upon thee without a pause; yet confess thy sin, and cease not to plead with God. Acknowledge thy wickedness, and firmly lay hold on the promise, and say, “Thou hast said.” Plead such a word as that in Isaiah, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow: though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Say unto the Lord, “thou hast said, ‘I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”’ Entreat the Lord to do as he has said. Under a crushing sense of thine own unworthiness, still know that all this does not alter the fact that the Lord has spoken in unchanging mercy, and will surely make it good. A God of truth must keep his promise, however unworthy thou mayest be to whom that promise is made. Is not this most effectual help to a poor soul in drawing near to God in prayer? If thou art as black as seven devils, God will not run back from what he has promised thee. If thou hast waded up to thy throat in sin’s foulest infamy, yet, if there be a promise made to thee, and thou canst plead it, God will stand to his word! Whatever thou mayest be, God is no liar, no hypocrite, no changeling. He never made a promise to the ear to break it to the experience. He is more willing to keep the promise than we are to have it kept. Come, poor trembler, in all your sin and defilement, with this upon your tongue: “Thou saidst; and therefore I pray thee do as thou hast said! Thy word says, ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ Lord, I confess, and I pray thee to forgive.” O my brothers, such a plea, urged by a breaking heart, must readily prevail with the great Father who waiteth to be gracious!

This is also good pleading as against our present danger. See how Jacob puts it with regard to his own peril. He says, “Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good.” In these words he sets out his very natural fear from his brother’s anger: the mother, the children, everybody would be smitten by fierce Esau; and to save himself from this threatened horror Jacob lifts the shield of the promise, and as good as says to the Lord his God, “If this calamity should happen, how can thy promise be kept? Thou saidst, ‘Surely I will do thee good;’ but, Lord, it is not good for Esau’s sword to shed our blood! If thou permit his anger to slay us, where is thine engagement to do good unto thy servant?” This reminds one of the plea of Moses, when he asked, “What will the Egyptians say?” If Israel were destroyed in the wilderness, what would Jehovah do for his great name? This is a prevalent argument.

Brethren, what is your present trouble? One sighs out because he knows not where to look for food and raiment. But there is a word of the Lord for that need: “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” There is another, “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee;” and another, “Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.” Can you not go to the living God with these words of his upon your tongue, and beg him to be as good as his promise? Say in so many words, “Lord, I am afraid that, if I am much longer without a situation, I shall not have shoes to my feet, nor bread for my children, and I shall be brought to a condition of utter penury; and yet thou hast said, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee’! Lord, I plead that promise!” See whether the Lord does not deliver you.

Do you ask me, “Are you sure that God will keep his word?” I answer, yes. I will be bound for him at any time, and in any place. Many children of God are in sore distress. I do not know how low he may let them go, but I do know that they shall never go lower than that word: “Underneath are the everlasting arms.” I cannot say with David, “I have been young, and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread;” for I have seen his seed begging bread, and I expect to see it again. If the seed of the righteous misbehave themselves, they shall beg their bread as other people have to do. But I can say, “I have been young, and I am now in middle life; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken; no, not so much as once!” The Lord will not turn his back on his friends, nor suffer those who trust in him to be forsaken.

One cries, “I have been anxiously doing my best.” Perhaps you have, dear brother! Perhaps you have, dear sister! I am very far from censuring you for doing your best; but sometimes, if you would let God do his best it would pay you much better. You see Jacob did his best when he divided his company and prepared a present for his brother. But it did not amount to much. It was a very poor little best, was it not? It would have come to nothing if he had not spread the matter before the Lord in prayer. Indeed, when the Lord wrestled with him at Jabbok, that night’s prayer, and weeping, and supplication did the work. Esau was won, after all, not by Jacob’s little arrangements, but by the hand of the great Lord laid upon his heart. Jacob’s schemes and plans do not figure in the whole narrative except as feeble measures which the Lord rendered superfluous. The cry, “Thou hast said,” did all the work.

I beg to bear my witness, as far as my experience goes, that the shortest way out of trouble is pleading with God. Straightforward makes the best runner. You may go round about, and round about, and round about, and come at nothing; but go straight to God about the business, and if he does not end it, then it is not to be ended, but is meant to go on, and work out a higher good. In any case, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.” Try you that promise, and you shall find it cover you with armor of light.

Once more, as to future blessedness. Jacob used this argument, “Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good,” as to all his future hopes, for he went on to say, “Thou saidst, I will make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.” Not as much as he should, but still in a measure Jacob lived in the future. He lived under the influence and expectation of the covenant blessing. Now, brethren, what hope have you and I of getting to heaven? None, except that the Lord has said, “I give unto my sheep eternal life; and they shall never perish.” I shall never perish, for Jesus says I never shall. He has also said, “Where I am, there shall also my servant be.” Therefore I shall be in the glory with him, and that is enough for me. All our hope of the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the reward which he will give his saints in the day of his manifestation — all our hopes of the crown of life that fadeth not away, and of the beatific vision — all depend on “Thou hast said.” We, according to his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth. Did you ever notice, in the Epistle to the Galatians, how the apostle Paul makes this dependence upon the promise the distinguishing mark of the chosen seed? He declares that the child of the bond woman was born according to the flesh, but the child of the free woman was born according to the promise. Hagar’s seed was according to the flesh, but the true seed, even Isaac, was by promise; and he says, “We, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” It is better far to be the child of the promise than to be the child of creature strength, or the child of legal hope; for the child of creature strength and legal hope will have to go packing into the wilderness, with a bottle of water, and a poor slave mother for his guardian; but the child that hugs the promise, the child that lives upon the promise, the child that waits for everything till he enters on his inheritance, he abideth ever, and all his father’s goods belong to him. Are you in the line of the promise, dear friend? If so, get into your chamber in your time of trouble, and plead for greater mercy than you have ever enjoyed as yet, because God has promised it to you; and he will do as he has said.

I have done when I have just mentioned, in as brief a way as ever I can, two or three of the things which God has said, and which I want some of you to plead.

Is there one here who wants to find salvation to-night? I invite you to go home, enter your chamber, shut to the door, get down your Bible, and open on this passage, Isaiah 55:7: — “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Now I imagine that I see you in your little room; and if you do as I wish you to do, you will read the words carefully and thoughtfully, and then say, “Lord, I am one of these wicked ones! This night I desire to forsake my way. I will have done with it. This night I desire, unrighteous as I am, to forsake my thoughts, and return unto thee. Now, thou hast said, “I will have mercy upon him: I will abundantly pardon him.’ Lord, have mercy upon me, and abundantly pardon me, for thou hast said it!” When you have thus prayed, expect the Lord to keep the promise. When you look an honest man in the face, and say, “You promised it,” you expect him to be as good as his promise; even so expect that God in Christ Jesus will fulfill his word. Do not doubt. Believe God, and expect the pardon and the blessing.

Next, O tried child of God, I want you to go home, and open your Bible at Psalm 1:15. Put it down on a bit of paper, will you? Read, “Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” Put your finger on that text, and then kneel down, and say, “Lord, here I am calling upon thee! It is a day of trouble: deliver me, that I may glorify thee.” Believe that God means his promise, and is not trifling with you. On the other hand, do not trifle with his word; but make business of it, and wait upon the Lord to have his promise made good. Some big-mouthed promisers will promise anything, but they perform nothing; God is not after their order: I pray you do not treat him as if he were so. He will hear the cry of the humble, and he will remember for them his covenant. Is there a poor soul here seeking salvation, who cannot get at either of these promises? Then go home, and look up John 3:18: “He that believeth on him is not condemned.” Go and plead that, and say, “I do believe on Jesus Christ, and therefore I am not condemned. Lord, give me to feel the peace which comes of thy justifying grace!”

If that Scripture does not suit you, there is one more, upon which I myself lived for months in the day of my self-despair. It is found in Romans 10:13: “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” I recollect getting hold of that passage, and feeling that it was a door of hope to my soul. Let me quote it in full. “There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him: for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” My heart said, “I do call upon his name. I do trust in him. I do pray to him. If I perish, I will perish crying to him, and calling upon him:” and on that promise I lived until I found the Lord. I pray that some of you may just go home, and plead in the same manner, “Lord, I do call upon thee; therefore fulfill thy word, and let salvation come unto my house!” Dost thou believe that God speaks the truth? If thou dost, thou hast living faith within thee. Canst thou trust God to keep his promise? If thou canst, the work of grace has already begun in thy soul. Thou art no dead sinner any longer. Thou art not under condemnation. “He that believeth on him hath everlasting life.” Thou hast a measure of that everlasting life within thee at this moment, because thou hast a, measure of faith in God. Oh, for power now to turn that faith to practical use by an earnest, pleading prayer! “Lord, do as thou hast said!” Such a prayer will soon bring peace and rest to your soul.

God bless you, dear friends! I feel much pleasure in addressing you at this time. If I have exceeded the time, you may well excuse it, for I am not always well enough to address you. Oh, how I have wearied to be in my pulpit! I would ask nothing more of God than to give me bread and water, and to permit me to occupy this pulpit on every occasion when I ought to be here but I cannot as yet get that privilege at his hands, for it is not a matter of promise. If he had said I should always be in health, I am sure Satan himself could not make me ill. Having therefore no specific promise, I am satisfied to accept the general assurance that all things work together for good to them that love God. From this assurance I know that I shall have such good health or ill-health as shall be good for me. What more can I desire than that the Lord’s will should be done in my mortal body, whether by weakness or by strength? This, however, I will do, by God’s help I will preach as earnestly as I can, when I do preach, and I will speak as plainly, and as pointedly, and as earnestly as possible when I am allowed to open my mouth in his name.

Oh, that God might give me every soul in this place at this hour! And he will do it, if we go to him in humble prayer, pleading what he has said. The Lord is able to bless the word which we preach to an incalculable extent. There is no limit to the good which he can work by this one sermon. Oh, my dear hearer, your hope does not lie in what you can say, but in what the Lord has said. Think little of the word of man, but think everything of the word of God. Believe it for yourself, and see if it be not fulfilled. Cling to the promise, come what may. The promise will hold you as surely as you hold the promise. God will be true to his promise, and true to you, for Jesus Christ’s sake; be you true to him. Amen.

This sermon commences the thirty-third volume of our sermons. It is a fit moment for grateful praise for their long continuance, and for asking readers who have profited by them to spread them far and wide. What the Lord has blessed to some he will bless to many more.

The Preacher is recovering from severe illness, and sends his loving salutations to all his readers, desiring for them “A Happy New Year.” He hopes to be in his pulpit again so soon as he has recovered strength. Oh, that he might gain spiritual as well as physical vigor! Will not his readers pray for this? If sought, why should it not be received? The present sermon leads the Preacher to beg importunately for the daily prayers of his friends.

3. Jacob’s Model Prayer No. 3010

A Sermon Published On Thursday,October 18th, 1906,Delivered By C. H. Spurgeon,At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.On Lord’s-Day Evening, June 16th, 1867

“And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant, for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, fear he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.” Genesis 32:9-12

You must have noticed, dear friends, how very frequently God makes the life of a man to be the reflection of his character. There is an echo, in the outward experience, to the inward character of the man.

Look at the life of Abraham. He trusted God in a very eminent degree; shall I be incorrect if I say that God also eminently trusted him? The Lord spake with Abraham as a man speaketh with his friend; and when he was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, he said, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do? “And as Abraham had trusted God in so notable a manner, the Lord entrusted his seed with the oracles of God, and with the outward forms of religious worship, so that it was through the seed of Abraham that the truth was handed on, from generation to generation, until the days of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then, next, in contrast to the life of Abraham, take the case of Jacob. He begins life by cheating his brother; and, however that cheating may have been overruled so as to fulfill the purposes of God, it was altogether unjustifiable. Now, as he had begun with Esau in that fashion, so he had it returned into his own bosom. When he was with Laban, he was cheated again and again, — cheated even in the wife who was given or sold to him. He was a great bargainer, shrewd, crafty, not over scrupulous, — the typical father of the Jews; yet you know how he was continually being overreached by Laban, who could also bargain on his own account. What a bargaining life it was all through, and what a life of sorrow, although he was still favored of God. His outward experience was the echo of his inward character. As he had done to others, so was it done to him, and in him was fulfilled our Lord’s declaration, which had not then been uttered, “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”

Look also at Moses, practically renouncing the throne of Egypt by refusing to be called the son of Pharaohs daughter, because he esteemed the reproach of Christ to be greater riches than all the treasures in Egypt; yet what did he afterwards become? Was he not king in Jeshurun, with a strange and marvellous power over the hosts of the Lord, and with a greater kingdom under him, according to the judgment of all who are able to weigh things aright, than he could ever have had if he had become the ruler of Egypt, and the son of Pharaoh’s daughter?

I might give you other illustrations of this fact; but I want, rather, to attract your attention to the better side of Jacob’s character as we have it revealed in the prayer which I have selected for our meditation on this occasion. The chapter, from which our text is taken, informs us as to the circumstances of Jacob’s case, at the time that he offered this prayer. He had just escaped from his trouble with Laban when he received the inexpressible honor of being met by “the angels of God.” But, lest he should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations which they made to him, a second trouble followed closely upon the heels of the first. He was soon to meet his brother Esau; and then, the great sin of his earlier years would be brought home to him. He had deceived his old father Isaac, and had gained the birthright blessing by utterly unjustifiable subtlety; and he might reasonably expect that he was about to reap the due reward of his evil deeds.

With true Oriental craft, and also with a considerable amount of common sense, he has various plans for appeasing the wrath of his brother; and then, when he had done what he thought to be wise, he betook himself to prayer. Brethren, let us learn, from Jacob’s experience, to expect troubles, especially if we have so acted as to bring trouble upon ourselves; but let us also learn, from, Jacob’s action, that, while planning is right enough when kept within its proper bounds, prayer is much more important. We may easily go to excess in our planning; we may depend so much upon an arm of flesh, and upon our own wisdom and prudence, and have such confidence in our own scheming that it may, after all, turn out to be utter folly. The staff, on which we lean, may turn out to be, at best, but a broken reed; perhaps even a spear which shall pierce and wound us. “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man;” or to have confidence in ourselves; for, even if we had all the wisdom that it is possible for man to attain, it would to but cleated wisdom; whereas, if we go at once to the Lord our God, we shall go to infinite wisdom, and we may expect to be guided aright through all the difficulties of the way.

Prayer, my brethren, must be our first resource; or if it is also the last, let it be the first as well. Let us not merely go to God’s door because we have tried everybody else, and failed. Let us not go to the fountain simply because the cisterns are exhausted; but let us go to our God first and foremost; and let us say, “Even if earth’s cisterns did contain water, we would not forsake our God for them; and if all the forces of our fellow-creatures were as real and powerful as they profess to be, we would still lean upon the arm that bears up the whole universe, — the unseen arm of the faithful Creator.”

I selected this subject for our meditations, on this occasion, because it appears to me to give us a sort of model of what prayer should be. We shall view it first in that light; and when we have so done, I shall have a little to say about Jacob’s last plea, for it is most suggestive; and then I shall close with a word or two upon the answer to this model prayer of the patriarch.

I. First, then, concerning JACOB’S MODEL PRAYER, which is one of the earliest that is recorded in Holy Scripture; at least, in such detail. I commend it for your imitation, my dear friends, first, because of the plainness of its matter. Jacob does not come before God with a long roundabout story, telling in general terms the fact that he was in some sort of trouble, out of which he wished to be divinely helped; but he distinctly mentions the perilous circumstances in which he found himself. He says, “O God, .... deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.” Of course, God knew that the name of Jacob’s brother was Esau; yet Jacob thought it was necessary to mention his brother’s name in order that his prayer should be definite and clear. So he pleaded, “Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.” He was probably then alluding to his dearly-beloved Rachel and her son Joseph, though he may also have referred to the other mothers in the company, for he was a tender father, and cared for his children, and he mentioned them as being very near his heart, and specially needing divine protection. So you see that Jacob is very clear as to what he asks of God; and I urge you, my brethren, to imitate him in this respect.

When we pray, we sometimes use very roundabout expressions; we do not come straight to the point; we seem to imagine that a kind of religious etiquette forbids us from speaking plainly at the throne of grace. I am persuaded that this notion is altogether wrong; and instead of God approving this mode of speaking to him in prayer, he would much rather have us speak to him as a child speaks to his earthly father, — respectfully, reverently, remembering that he is in heaven, and we are on earth, yet simply and plainly, for our Heavenly Father needs no garnishing of our speech; and the poor tawdry flowers of eloquence, with which some of our brethren at times adorn their prayers, must be displeasing to God rather than acceptable to him. Especially must you unconverted ones imitate Jacob in this matter of plainness of speech; when you pray, never mind about the mode of your expression, but come to the main point at once. Tell the Lord that you have grievously offended him; and mention your sins to him in private, by name. If your great sin has been drunkenness, call it by that name; if it has been uncleanness, call it by that name. Do not endeavor to dissemble before the Lord, or to cloak your sin before the all-seeing Jehovah. You need not reach down a prayer-book to see how the bishops would have you pray, nor borrow somebody’s Morning Devotions to see how a certain eminent divine prayed; but go straight to God, and say, “O Lord, thou knowest what I want! I am a poor guilty sinner, and I cannot express myself in such a way as to please my fellow-creatures; but thou knowest what I am, and what I need. Wilt thou graciously give me the pardon of my sin, O thou who alone canst forgive the guilty? Wilt thou receive, me to thy bosom, thou blessed Savior of the lost? “Come to the point with God, dear friends; be explicit with him; let it be seen that you are not, praying for the mere sake of performing a certain religious ceremony, but that you have real business to transact with the Most High. You know what your request is, and you do not intend to leave the mercy-seat until your request is granted.

So I commend Jacob’s prayer to you because of the plainness of its speech. Next, it is to be commended for the humility of its spirit. Notice especially these words of the patriarch, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.” If you even hint that there is any worthiness in yourself, the power of your prayer is at once destroyed; but if you plead your unworthiness, you will then be standing where the publican stood when he cried, “God be merciful to me a sinner;” and you know how “he went down to his house justified rather than the” Pharisee, who said that he fasted twice in the week, gave tithes of all he possessed, and was not like other men, especially that publican! In that way he destroyed any power that his prayer might otherwise have possessed. His self-conceit tore the chariot wheels from his prayer, so that it dragged heavily, and soon could not move even an inch. On the other hand, a deep sense of sin, a full consciousness of utter undesert, will enable you, like Jacob, to wrestle with the great Angel of the covenant, and to prevail over him. Possibly, you have not succeeded with God because you have not sunk low enough before him. You unconverted ones especially, if you put your mouths in the very dust, that will be the best attitude for you to assume. If you still have some relics of strength, you will not receive divine strength. If there are some remnants of the pristine idea of human merit tolerated in your heart, the robe of Christ’s righteousness will not be wrapped around you. Ask the Lord to strip you of every rag of self-righteousness, to enable you to trust in Jesus alone, and to have no confidence in the flesh, either in the feelings which you experience or in the works which you do. Your time of uplifting will follow close upon your time of falling down flat upon your face. The dawn of day succeeds the darkest hour of the night, so ask God to bring you down to that dark hour in which the night covers every hope that is born of human confidence, for then will the Lord appear to you in his brightness. So, imitate the prayer of Jacob in its humility of spirit.

The third point in which I would have you copy Jacob’s model prayer is in the arguments to be used. The whole prayer is highly argumentative. If some of the prayers I have heard at prayermeetings, — though I must say that the fault is less in this place than in most others! with which I have become acquainted, — if some of the prayers at certain prayer-meetings were less doctrinal, less experimental, and more argumentative with God, they would be more like true prayer should be, for true prayer is just pleading with the Most High, spreading our case before him, and then pressing our suit with all the arguments we can muster.

In this short prayer of the patriarch, no less than four arguments are used. The first is the argument from the covenant: “O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac.” God had entered into covenant relationship with Abraham, and made solemn promises to him and to his seed, so Jacob prays, “O Lord, thou hast pledged thyself to be the God of the seed of Abraham, whose grandson I am, and of the seed of Isaac, whose son I am, — now, therefore, by thy faithfulness to thy covenant promise, help me in this dark hour of my life! “Beloved friends, this is the kind of plea that we can use with the Lord: “O God, hast thou not made a covenant with the Lord Jesus by which thou hast promised that thou wilt save all them that trust in him? Hast thou not said, ‘I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people? Then, Lord, though guilty, I trust to the merits of thy dear Son, and I ask to be absolved by virtue of his great atoning sacrifice. Behold, as the earthen vessel hangs upon the nail, so hang I upon him, and upon him alone. Now, by the covenant of thy grace, which is ordered in all things and sure, I beseech thee to manifest thy love to me.” If you use such gracious pleading as that with the Lord, you will surely prevail with him. And I urge you also, children of God, to do the same, for the everlasting covenant is a mighty plea with God, —

“In every dark distressful hour,When sin and Satan join their power.”

Then we pass on to the next use which Jacob makes of the promise which God had given him: “Thou saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee.” If you and I know that we are walking in the path of duty, if we are where the Lord has bidden us go, we can always claim the divine promise. The Lord is bound to protect his servants when they are in the path of obedience to his command. If you follow your own counsel, you must manage to take care of yourselves; but if you go where the Bible and the clear indications of divine providence guide you, you may always reckon that the Master who sent you will protect his obedient servants, let, the dangers of the way be whatever they may. If God should command you to go to the utmost verge of this green earth, to rivers unknown to song, or if he should bid you travel through distant deserts, as Mungo Park journeyed through the midst of Africa, yet he could preserve your life there as well as here in England; and being there, sent by him, you may rest, assured that you shall hear the sound of your Master’s feet behind you, or have other unmistakable evidences of his presence with you.

And, sinner, this is a good plea for you to use. You can say, “Lord, thou didst tell me to believe in Jesus Christ, thy Son; then, wilt thou not accept me, for his sake, for I have done what thou didst bid me do? Thou hast said, ‘Call upon me in the day of trouble;’ Lord, this is a day of trouble with me, and I do call upon thee; so wilt thou not answer me? “If you argue with the Lord in such a style as this, you will find that this kind of pleading is potent with him who is omnipotent.

Then, further, Jacob argued with God from his past history. He said that he was not worthy of the least of God’s mercies, yet he had received many of them. Though he went over the river Jordan, when he left his home, a sad and solitary man, with nothing but his walking-staff in his hand, yet, he had come back with wives and children, and so great a number of servants, and cattle, and camels, and goats, and sheep, and asses that he had become like two bands. “Now, Lord,” says he, “after all thy past mercies to me, I beseech thee: do not leave me now. Hast thou blessed thy servant up to this moment, and canst thou leave him now? “I cannot tell you how often I have been comforted by the truth implied in John Newton’s words, —

“Determined to save, he watch’d o’er my pathWhen Satan’s blind slave, I sported with death:And can he have taught me to trust in his name,And thus far have brought me to put me to shame?“His love in time past forbade me to thinkHe’ll leave me at last in trouble to sink,Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review,Confirms his good pleasure to help me quite through.”

So Jacob prayed, in effect, “Lord, thou hast often been my Helper in the past; so now deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.” You, my unconverted friend, may ever adopt this form of pleading, for you can say, “Lord, thou hast saved my life many a time when I have provoked thee. Let thy longsuffering, which now leads me to repentance, also move thee to forgive my sin. I remember what thou didst on Calvary for sinners in ages long past. Didst thou give thy wellbeloved and only-begotten Son to die for sinners, and wilt thou not now accept every trembling sinner who seeks thy favor? “This also shall prove to be the kind of pleading that will cause the gates of God’s grace to open. The fourth argument that Jacob used was perhaps the best of all: “Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good,” and so on. Ah, that was the master-stroke; and, in like manner, if you would succeed at the mercy-seat, you must bring down the hammer of the promise upon the head of the nail of prayer, and then clinch it, as Jacob did, by saying to the Lord, “Thou saidst,” so-and-so, and so-and-so. David once said to God in prayer, “Do as thou hast said.” When a man has promised you something that you really need, you take him by the button-hole, and you say to him, “Now, you promised to give me that;” and if he is an honest man, you can hold him by his own word; and shall the God of truth ever fail to perform his promise! No, that is one of the things that God cannot do; he cannot lie, and yet cannot run back from his promise, nor does he want to do so. O Christian, if you would get anything from God, find a promise of it in his Word, and been thou mayest count the thing as good as received. When a man of means gives you his cheque, you count it just as good as hard cash; and God’s promises are even better than cheques or bank notes. We have only to take them, and plead them before him, and we may rest assured that he will honor them.

II. Thus I have tried to place before you the points in which Jacob’s prayer is worthy of both commendation and imitation; and now I want to say something concerning our LAST PLEA, which seems to me to be very suggestive: “Thou saidst.” Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, I need not say more to you upon this matter, for you know the value of the promises of God, and you know how to use them. But to those who are not converted, I may perhaps speak a few words suggested by Jacob’s last plea: “Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good.” Sinner, lay hold, as fast as thou canst, of the promise of God, and then plead it with him. To this end, I would say to every unconverted one here who desires to obtain the priceless blessing of salvation, — Study the Word of God very diligently, and always read it with the view of finding a promise that may suite your special case; and when you read it, study it with the firm conviction that it is God’s Word, and that, in each promise, God is as truly speaking to you as though he had sent an angel to apply that promise personally to you. Take a text which you find to be applicable to yourself, and say, “This is what the Lord says to me as certainly as though he now spoke it in my ear.”

Next, I beseech you to remember that God’s Word is absolutely true. Fix that fact in your memory, and then say to yourself that the promise, being true, must be fulfilled. Next to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great object of faith is the promise of God; and if we were more familiar with his promises, we should more speadily get out of that Slough of Despond in which so many of us flounder so long. Bunyan says that “there are, by the direction of the Lawgiver, certain good and substantial steps, placed even through the very midst of this Slough; .... but these steps are hardly seen; or if they be, men, through the dizziness of their heads, step besides, and then they are bemired to purpose, notwithstanding the steps be there.” Look out for these stops of promise, my friend. There is, in the Bible, a promise just exactly suited to your case, so mind that you find it. Did you never send for a locksmith to open a drawer because you had lost the key, and could not open it? He comes with a great hunch of rusty keys, — very like God’s promise which you have allowed to get rusty through not using them, — and first he tries one key, and then another, and another, till, at last, he gets the right one, and the treasures in your drawers are spread open before you. It is just so with the treasures of God’s mercy. There is one special promise in Scripture which will fit the words of the lock of your experience; and you must try promise after promise till, at last, you get the right one, and then you can say to the Lord, as Jacob did, “Thou saidst,” That is the main matter, what God has said. Never mind what I say; that does not signify an atom except so far as I say what God says. Never mind what anybody else has said; but, let your one concern be to know what God says.

Good Mr. William Jay, of Bath, writing upon this passage, “Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good,” makes four observations which I commend to both saints and sinners. ‘The first is, God has the ability to do you good. Whatever good it is that you need, God can give it to you. Pardon of sin, help in trouble, comfort in distress, whatever it is that you really need, God has the ability to give it to you, and so to do you good. In the second place, God has the inclination to do you good. You need not speak to him as if he were unwilling to bless you; it is according to his nature to be gracious. Love is one of his chief attributes, and his lovingkindness and tender mercies greatly abound. He as much delights to show kindness to the needy as a generous man delights to relieve the wants of the poor. In the next place, God is under an engagement to do you good. “Thou saidst, Surely I will do thee good.” God has given a promise to seeking sinners, that he will be found of them; to repentant sinners, that he will pardon them; to believing sinners, that they shall find eternal life. And then, the fourth thing is, God has already done good to you. This fact ought to strengthen your faith. The Lord has the ability, and the inclination, and he is under engagement to do you good, and he has already begun to do it. I may say to you, my hearers, that the Lord has done you some good in bringing you here to listen to the gospel, and in making that gospel so sweet and so generous a gospel as it is, — a gospel for those who labor, and are heavy laden, and who can find no rest anywhere else, — a gospel for the very chief of sinners, as Paul wrote to Timothy, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” I put into your hands this plea of Jacob, “Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good.” Go and plead it, and the Lord do unto you according to your faith!

III. My last word which must be very few, — concern THE ANSWER WHICH JACOB’S PRAYER RECEIVED. His prayer was answered, but it was not answered in the way he expected it would be. When he had done praying, he found that all his plans had been knocked on the head; so you need not wonder if you find the same thing happen to you when you have done praying. Do not be astonished, my dear hearers, if, when you have gone to God in prayer, you should seem to feel worse than you did before. There is a young friend, — I daresay he is here now, — who told me that he came to hear me for many months, that he became outwardly reformed, and was, as he thought, going on well, till there came, one Lord’s-day morning, a sermon See Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 732, “The Heart — a Den of Evil.” about the corruption of the human heart which knocked all to pieces his pretty castle in the air, upset all his hopes, and utterly destroyed his self-confidence. I am very glad it did, for his hopes and trust were all false; and, afterwards, by God’s grace, he began to build upon a far firmer foundation.

Sometimes, when you have been praying for salvation, God answers you by destroying all your hopes. You asked him to save you, and you thought, he would do it in a way that would make you happy; but, instead of that, he plucked up all your fine plants by the roots, and turned your pretty garden into a desert, because he knew that the flowers you were growing were all poisonous, and must be cleared away before he could plant there those which would be the plants of his right hand planting.

When God answered Jacob, he met him, not as his Friend, but as his wrestling Opponent. Jacob had a fierce duel, which lasted all night long, by Jabbok’s brook; and if God really appears to you, I should not be surprised if he comes at first like an enemy; and if you should have to say to him as Job did, “Thou huntest me as a fierce lion.” God’s choicest mercies often come to us under the guise of adversities. God sends his love-letters to us in black-edged envelopes, and sometimes we are afraid to open them. If we would but do so, we should soon know the lovingkindness of the Lord. Jacob was to have an answer to his prayer; but, before the answer came, he had to wrestle; nay, worse than that, before Jacob was fully delivered, he had to be made to limp, and all his life afterwards he went halting upon his thigh. You, poor sinner, may be made to feel your sinfulness so much that you will be driven, almost to despair; and you, believer, will have to fight with Satan, possibly as long as you are in this body.

Although Jacob’s own plans were put on one side, and God mete him as though he were his enemy, and the poor patriarch went on limping when the sun rose over Penuel, yet, for all that, he did get his prayer answered. His brother “Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him,” So, beloved, trust ye in the Lord, and wait patiently for him, and your enemies shall become your friends, your doubts shall end in joy, your tribulations shall melt away into the glory, and you shall prove that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Brethren, the pith of the whole matter is this, “Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength,” As for you who know him not, I pray you to trust in the sacrifice of his dear Son, Jesus Christ. As the doves hide themselves in the clefts of the rock, hide yourselves in the wounds of Jesus by trusting in his atoning sacrifice. And as for you, the saints of the Lord, return unto your rest, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with you; therefore, “rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him,” remembering that “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.” May the Lord graciously give all of us his blessing and benediction, for Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen.

Expositions by C. H. Spurgeon.

GENESIS 32.

Jacob had just come out of a great trouble. God’s gracious interposition had delivered him out of the hand of the angry Laban, — Laban the churl, who cared for Jacob only for what he could get out of him.

Verses 1, 2. And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

The angels of God are always round about his people. It was well for Jacob to be reminded of that fact, for he was about to pass into another trouble. John Bunyan truly says, —

“A Christian man is seldom long at ease;When one trouble’s gone another doth him seize.”

Certainly it was so with Jacob; for, after he had escaped from Laban, he knew that he had to meet his brother Esau, whom he had so greatly wronged so many years before. Then it was that “the angels of God met him.” Go on your way in peace and safety, beloved believer, for God’s hosts are all around you. You do not go unattended at any single moment of your life. Better than squadrons of horse and regiments of foot are the ministering spirits who are “sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.”

3-5. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Sezr, the country of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: and I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord that I may find grace in thy sight.

This was a wise and proper action on the past of Jacob, for he had grossly wronged his brother, and it was right for him to make advances toward a reconciliation. He prayed to God for help, but he also used such means as he could, — the means that ought always to be used when any of us realize that we have done an injury to others. We should even be willing to humiliate ourselves in order to make peace.

I think that, when Christians differ from one another, there should be a holy emulation between them as to which shall be the first to give way, and which will give way the more to the other. How many quarrels might soon be ended if there were this spirit of conciliation among all professing Christians. I have heard of one, who had offended a brother Christian during the day; possibly, the brother-Christian had offended him quite as much. But the first one saw that the sun was going down, so he turned to seek his friend, that he might say to him, “Friend So-and-so, I was wrong in being angry today.” Half-way between their two houses, they met, and each of them said, “I was just coming to say that I was wrong.” There is no need of any arbitrator when each of the disputants is willing to say, “I was wrong,” and the trouble is soon over when that point is reached. In this case, it certainly was Jacob’s duty to make some reparation to his brother, whether Esau accepted it or not.

6. And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.

He would not have minded Esau coming alone to meet him, but the thought of the four hundred rough men, who had gathered around this wild warrior of the desert, made him wonder what they might do, and what Esau might do with their help.

7, 8. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; and said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.

He used the means that he judged to be the best under the existing circumstances, and I believe that God intends us always to use our best wits and judgment, and then to fall back upon him in confiding prayer just as if we had done nothing at all. Do everything as if God were not about to help you, and then trust in God as if you had done nothing at all. An Arab said to Mahomet, “I let my camel run loose, and trusted it to Providence,” but Mahomet replied, “You should have tied it up first, and then trusted it to Providence;” and Jacob was very much of that mind and a very sensible mind it was, not at all inconsistent with the very best of faith.

9-12. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, —

That is always the most powerful plea when we can quote God’s own promise: “Thou saidst,” —

12-19. I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered for multitude. After he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams thirty milch camels with their costs, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses and ten foals. And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are there before thee? then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob’s; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us. And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the drove, saying, In this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.

That was a very anxious night for Jacob; he was to have another night of sterner work still, but in doing as he did he acted wisely and rightly.

20. And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.

Depend upon it, our sins will come home to us sooner or later. Jacob must have bitterly regretted, that night, that he had ever wronged Esau. There was a long interval between Jacob going away, and he coming back again, but his sin came home to him; and if you are a child of God and you do wrong, it is more certain to come home to you, in this life, than if you were one of the ungodly. As for them, they are often left to be punished in another world; but if you are a child of God, you will be chastened here for your iniquity. Remember how earnestly David prayed about the sins of his youth, and his later transgressions too; and Jacob, in deep humility, must have most vividly remembered his sin against his brother.

21-24. So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

We know who that Divine Man was, the God who afterwards actually became man, of whom it might even then be said that “His delights were with the sons of men.”

25. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

For even with a dislocated hip Jacob would not give up wrestling; he meant to hold this wondrous Man until he got a blessing from him.

26-29. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me! And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said. Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name. And he blessed him there.

He would not gratify Jacob’s curiosity concerning his name, but he gave him the blessing that he craved. This was just as our Divine Master acted when his disciples enquired of him concerning the times and seasons, he told them it was not for them to know what the Father had retained in his own power; but Christ added, what was much better for them, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” He will not tell us all we want to know, but he will give us all we need to have. What a wise and prudent Lord is ours!

30, 31. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.

He was lame, and probably remained lame for life.

32. Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.

Some touch of human weakness must always accompany the divine strength that God may give to us. If we are allowed the high honor of carrying the untold treasure of the gospel, we must be reminded that “we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” Yet who would not be content to limp for life if he might but win such a victory as Jacob won on that memorable night by the brook Jabbok?

AT first sight, we might suppose that crying unto God was so good a thing, that it would never be necessary for the Lord to ask the question, “Wherefore criest thou unto me?” But the question we are now to consider shows that there may be a time when, even to a man like Moses, it is needful for God to ask, “Wherefore criest thou unto me?” Think of the circumstances in which the Israelites then were; the Red Sea was before them, and the Egyptians were behind, so that when the Lord said to Moses, “Wherefore criest thou unto me? he might very properly have replied, What else can I do? There are great multitudes of blood-thirsty foes behind us, and nothing but the roaring sea in front of us; what can we do except cry unto thee?” But the fact was, that the time for praying about the matter was past, and the time for acting had come; so the Lord said to Moses, in effect, “Speak not to me; but ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward;’ forward through the sea that now rolls in front of them. That sea will divide as they march into it, so you need not pray any more about that difficulty. I will prepare a pathway for the people as they advance, and they shall go safely through the very midst of the sea.” There is a time for praying, but there is also a time for holy activity. Prayer is adapted for almost every season, yet not prayer alone, for there comes, every now and then, a time when even prayer must take a secondary place, and faith must come in, and lead us not to cry unto God but to act as he bids us, even as the Lord said to Moses, “Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward; but lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.”

It is perfectly clear, then, that there may come a time when crying unto God becomes unseasonable. Our Lord’s command to his disciples is, “Ask;” but what follows that command? Why, the promise, “ye shall receive.” Then there must be a time for receiving, as well as season for asking. But if, instead of stretching out my hand gratefully to receive what God is waiting to give, I continue still to ask, and forget or neglect to receive, I put prayer out of its proper place. Our Savior also said, “Seek, and ye shall find.” Well, if I have sought, and at last have found the treasure I have been seeking, if instead of perceiving that it is there, and taking possession of it, and blessing God that I have found it, if I still go on seeking for it, then I have forgotten I that, while there is a time to seek, there is also a time to find, and my seeking then becomes unseasonable. It is the same also with the command and promise, “Knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Suppose that I have knocked, and that the door has been opened to me, but that I still stand knocking at it, it is manifest that I am acting foolishly and wrongly, that I am casting reflections upon the Owner of the house, and also upon the sincerity of my own knocking, for it is doubtful whether I really did knock with the honest purpose of getting the door opened if, when that opening has taken place, I do not avail myself of the opportunity to enter, but continue still to knock. I do not say that we may not pray for something else, but I do say, in respect to the one thing which we have asked of God, that there comes a time for receiving rather than asking; with regard to the thing which we have sought at the Lord’s hands, there comes a time for finding; and concerning the door at which we have knocked, there comes a time for opening; and, in each of these cases, the Lord’s question to Moses comes with appropriateness to each one of us, “Wherefore criest thou unto me.”

When do you think, dear friends, that prayer about anything becomes out of date? I answer, When we ought to believe that we have the answer to our supplication. I do believe that, many a time, some of you go on asking for a certain blessing after you have really received it though you are not conscious that you have it. I am glad that you still ask for it as you think that you have not received it; but it would be a better evidence of your spiritual growth if you perceived that, when God has given you a certain thing in answer to your petitions, you certainly do not need still to ask for it. You have it, so rejoice over it, and bless the Lord for giving it to you. I think there are some Christians, who have received many blessings of which they are quite unaware. They have what they asked for, yet they still continue to pray for them. For instance, in some cases, the prayer for assurance is offered long after assurance has been granted. Someone says that he believes the promise of God, but he wants to be more fully assured concerning it. My dear brother, what do you mean? To be more assured that God made the promise? Because, if so, you will have to go into the question of the authenticity of that particular passage, and of the Bible in general. “No,” you say, “I do not mean that, for I am quite sure that God gave that promise.” Then, do you mean that you doubt whether God will fulfill the promise that he has given? Because, if so, I must say, with all solemnity, that you ought to be assured that God cannot lie. This is not a thing for you to pray about, but for you to believe. It is the Lord’s due that you should not allow anything like a question to arise over this matter. “Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” There is his definite promise, and yet I go and ask him to give me an assurance concerning it. If I were to give a promise to any one of you, and you were afterwards to come to me, and say, “Give me further assurance, “I should feel that you did not believe that I could or would do what I had promised. If such treatment as that were meted out to me by any one of you, I should not feel that you had done me any honor by finding it difficult to believe my word; yet why should I expect you to honor me? But I do expect that a son should honor his own father; and I do expect that a child of God should so fully believe his Heavenly Father that he should not talk about needing assurance of the truthfulness and reliability of his promises of grace. Instead of continuing to pray for God to keep his word, it would be far better for you to believe that he has done so, and that he always will do so.

“But it may be presumption,” says someone. No, it can never be presumption to believe God; it is presumption ever to doubt him. However great his promise may be, it must be true; and it is presumptuous for anyone to ask, “Can this be true?” or, “How can it be accomplished?” It should be enough for me that God has said it; how he will fulfill his promise, is his business, not mine. I rest upon his word with a simple, childlike faith; and I am sorry if any of you are not doing the same. I feel that, sometimes, in the matter of assurance, God might say to us, “‘Wherefore criest thou unto me?’ Believe my word, and rest assured that I shall certainly fulfill all that I have promised.

It is the same, also, in plain matters of Christian duty. It is a very shocking thing, but I have known the case of a man, I hope a Christian man, knowing such-and-such a thing to be right, yet not attending to it, but saying that he was praying about it. He is quite certain about that particular thing, it could not possibly be plainer than it is, yet he is praying about it! Such-and-such a truth is revealed plainly enough in the Scriptures; the man could see it there, and did not doubt its authenticity, but he wanted it to be “brought home” to his conscience, so he said. Well, all I can say about such conduct as that is that it is a kind of rebellion against God, a shameful piece of hypocrisy, pretending to honor God in one duty while you know that you are neglecting another. My dear brother, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you know that it is the will of Christ that all believers should be baptized even as he was, do not go home, and pray about it, but be baptized. If you are not a member of a Christian church, and you know that it was the practice of the early Christians first to give themselves to the Lord, and afterwards to give themselves to his church, do not tell me that you have been praying about that matter for months; cease praying about it, and go and do it! It is idle to talk of praying about things which are clearly according to the will of God. Cease praying about them, and practice them. You feel that you ought to have family prayer, yet you say that you have been praying about it! Praying about it? That is not what you have been doing; you have only been trying to see whether you could not find a loophole by which you could escape from an uncongenial but recognized duty. Go and do it, dear friend; and do not any longer act the hypocrite’s part by pretending to pray about it. Yet this is the way in which some, who say that they love the Lord, try to play fast and loose with known precepts and duties. Do not let any of us fall into this sin; if we do, the Lord may well say to us, as he did to Moses, only he may say it to us with more anger, “‘Wherefore criest thou unto me’ about such a thing as that? Do what you know to be right.”

I. Now, leaving that part of our theme altogether, I come to a more general subject, which is this, IT IS GOOD FOR A MAN OFTEN TO ASK HIMSELF THE QUESTION, “WHY DO I PRAY? WHEREFORE DO I CRY UNTO GOD?”

In some cases, I fear that the answer will be exceedingly unsatisfactory. One replies, “I pray because I was always trained to do so. My dear mother, now in heaven, taught me a form of prayer, and that is why I continue to repeat it.” If your mother had taught you the Mohammedan form of prayer, I suppose you would have kept on repeating it; or if she had taught you to worship a block of wood or stone, you would have done so. I do not wish to speak with contempt concerning the influence of a mother’s teaching, but I must say that this alone is a very unsatisfactory reason for presenting a prayer to God. Let me ask, Did your mother, when she taught you that form of prayer, merely mean that you should repeat those words, without any particular thought as to what they meant? If she did, your mother knew but little of vital godliness; and, probably, you know even less. You must pray to God from your inmost heart, your soul must have real fellowship with him, or else the prayer your mother taught you may be of no more avail for you than if you repeated the alphabet backwards or forwards. I have heard of a man of seventy, who said that he always prayed night and morning. When he was asked what he said in his prayer, it turned out that he only repeated the form which he had been taught to say as a little child. Now, if you had taught a parrot to say a prayer like that, the parrot would not have been saved, nor will you, if that is all you have to depend upon. There must be something, as a reason for prayer, vastly superior to that, or else your prayer may be nothing but a mockery of supplication, a sepulcher of devotion with no life in it, an external form which cannot please God.

Another says, “I pray because prayer is a part of my religion.“ Yes, and it is a part of every true Christian’s religion to pray; it must be an essential part of his religion. But what sort of prayer is this of yours which seeks to justify itself upon the ground of being a part of your religion; and what is the religion of which it is a part? Is it a religion which knows God, and draws near to him? Is it a religion which leads you to seek the Lord in spirit and in truth? If so, God bless your religion, and the prayer that is a part of it! But if your religion consists merely in attendance at church, or at the meeting-house, so many times on the Lord’s-day, and in the repetition of certain words which you have been taught, God deliver you from it! If your religion is to be worth anything, it must have a heart, there must be heart-work, the work of the Holy Spirit upon your hearts, and the drawing near of your souls unto God. Otherwise, all your outward performances, however excellent they may appear to be, will land you short of heaven. Another friend replies, “I pray because it is a right thing to do.” There is something hopeful about that answer; but the question is, What sort of prayer do you pray? I make that enquiry, because, although it is right to pray, it is not right to pray some sorts of prayer. It is the right thing for a clerk in the telegraph office to work the telegraphic apparatus; but suppose that he should merely move a handle backwards and forwards, for a whole day, yet never send a message or receive one, I should not think it was right for him to keep on moving that handle to no purpose. Evidently, a wire is broken, or something is out of order, there is no connection with the electric current, for the machinery does not work. And in like manner, a prayer that never reaches the heart of God as it should and never brings an answer to your suppliant soul, a prayer in which you have no fellowship with the invisible Jehovah, is not a right kind of prayer to pray; and I cannot say of such prayer that it has any good reason why it should be presented. If you do not mean the petitions that you present, you mock God when you utter them, for they are only words, and nothing but words. There are some, who would not like to say, just in so many words, exactly what they think, but they really pray because they regard prayer as being more or less meritorious. They do not consider it so meritorious that they expect to be saved by it; but they have some kind of notion that it helps, with a great many other things, among the rest, faith in Jesus Christ, to procure salvation for the soul. All these things go into the scale; and, at last, they make up the weight required; that seems to be their idea. In fact, according to some, our Lord Jesus Christ himself is only a make-weight; and our prayers, and tears, and alms, and good works count for a great deal. These people do not quite advocate salvation by works, they do not go the full length of the road that the Romanist takes, but they go a very long way in the same direction through their belief that there is some kind of merit about various things appertaining to themselves, and, especially, that their prayer is meritorious. I will speak about this error very strongly, lest I should not be understood by all; and I state my final conviction that, if any man thinks that his prayers have any merit in them of themselves, every prayer that he presents is an insult to the Lord Jesus Christ, for he is set forth as the only propitiation for sin. If you think that your prayers help in any degree to put away sin you make an antichrist of your players. Christ’s blood and righteousness form the only ground of your acceptance before God. If you reckon your prayers as a ground, or medium, or help to your acceptance with God, you so far push the cross of Christ into the background, and put your prayers into the place of the only Substitute for sinners; and the more you pile them up, the more you multiply your sin. Possibly, I have quoted the answers which would be given if I were to ask many of you why you cry unto the Lord in prayer. I would like to listen to the prayer of every man here present; without his knowing that I was doing so, I would like to put my ear to the keyhole of his room, and hear the style of his praying; but, as I cannot do that, I would like to ask whether you would wish anybody to hear it. How does your prayer appear to the eye of God Has it been humble, earnest, sincere, trustful, relying upon the atoning sacrifice of Christ, and upon the effectual working of the Holy Spirit? If so, it is well; but if not, it is only vanity of vanities. All is vanity. How would it be with some of us, if we were put into the condition of the Highland soldier of whom I have read? In our war with our American colonists, before they gained their freedom from this country, a certain Highland regiment was engaged. Every evening, one of the men was observed to go away from the camp into an adjacent wood, and it was suspected that he had gone to give information to the enemy. He was, therefore, arrested, and brought before the colonel of the regiment, and the other officers said to him, “Now tell us what you have been doing while you have been absent from the camp.” “Well,” he said, “I have been accustomed, whenever I can, to retire for an hour or two of private prayer.” The colonel happened to be a Scotchman and a Presbyterian, so he said to the soldier, “well, you never had such reason to pray before as you have to-night. If you do go for an hour together to pray, you can pray; so let us hear you now.” The man knelt down, and poured out his soul before God, seeking deliverance at the Lord’s hands, and resigning his spirit into the keeping of his Heavenly Father; and he prayed with such earnest, simple power that, when he had finished, the colonel said to the other officers, “A man, who can come on parade like that, must have been drilled a good many times. I think we may confidently accept what he has said as being true. There is no doubt about his having been alone in prayer to God, now that he can pray like that before us.” Happy is the man whose prayer would bear to be listened to by his fellow-men in such a critical season as that, so that they should be compelled to say of him, “That man has often prayed before to-night; he has the very brogue of one who communes with heaven.” But he, who gives such answers as I have been quoting, would certainly not be able to pray before others as that soldier did.

II. But now, secondly, THERE ARE SOME ANSWERS TO THIS QUESTION WHICH BETRAY GREAT DEAL OF SIGNIFICANCE. “Wherefore criest thou unto me.” There are times, dear brethren and sisters, when a sinner’s crying to God in prayer hinders him from immediate repentance. The gospel comes to each man, and says, “Repent, and be converted.” The man says, “I will pray,” so he gets away alone, and he prays; but such prayer as that cannot be acceptable to God. There is a favourite sin, of which he has long been guilty; he does not give it up, but he says that he will pray about it. God says to such a man, “‘Where fore criest thou unto me?’ Give up thy sin; this is not a matter for thee to pray about, but to repent of.” The man says, “I was asking for repentance.” Ask, if thou wilt, for repentance, but exercise it as well. Christ does not bid us pray to have our right hand cut off, or our right eye plucked out; but he says, “If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee.... And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee.” It will never do for any man to hope to be saved by putting prayer into the place of genuine repentance and immediate forsaking of sin.

The same is true of those who put prayer into the place of believing in Christ. “I mean to pray about the salvation of my soul,” says someone. My dear friend, the gospel says to you, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” “I have been praying for salvation, sir, and I hope to get it if I keep on praying.” No, you will not; on the contrary, you will be lost for ever if you pray instead of believing in Christ. As surely as you live, if you will not accept God’s way of salvation, which is to believe in Jesus Christ, whether you pray or do not pray, you are a lost man. “There,” says the Lord, “on yonder cross is your only hope; trust my Son, and you shall be saved.” “Lord,” you reply, “I will pray about the matter.” Again the Lord says to you, “You see my well-beloved Son hanging upon that tree. There is life for a look at him.” “Lord, I will pray about the matter.” The Lord says, “I have said to you, ‘Hear, and your soul shall live.’ ‘Look unto me, and be ye saved.’” “Lord, I will pray.” To put the matter very strongly, might not the man almost as well say, “Lord, I will swear”? Is there not just as much of the spirit of rebellion in the one answer as in the other? He has chosen his own way instead of accepting God’s way. God’s way is, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned;” and to this the man replies, “Lord, I will pray;” and if that is all he does, he sets his seal to his own condemnation. In such a case, the Lord asks the question in my text, “Wherefore criest thou unto me?” What are you crying for? For another atonement beside that of the Lord Jesus Christ! Crying for God to save you in some other way than by believing in Jesus? Crying for somebody else to believe for you? Crying to the Holy Spirit to repent for you? Is that what you want? He will not do it; why should he repent for you? You must repent for yourself, and believe for yourself; for the Holy Spirit cannot repent for you, or believe for you. If a man, instead of believing the truth of God, which is so plain, and which is evidently able to save him, if, instead of simply resting upon the atoning sacrifice of Christ, he says, “I will pray about the matter,” he betrays the fatal ignorance of his heart in supposing that God will make a new way of salvation for him instead of the one which he has plainly revealed in his Word.

Perhaps another one says, “I am in hopes that, by praying, I shall be made more fit for believing in Christ.“ Fit for believing in Christ! Thou also art upon the wrong tack, like these others of whom I have been speaking. Thine ignorance is misleading thee. Fit for believing in Christ! A man is never so “fit for believing” as when, in himself, he is most unfit. It is unfitness, not fitness, that is really required. What is fitness for being washed? Filth, and filth alone. What is fitness for receiving alms? Poverty, abject need. What is fitness for receiving pardon? Guilt, and only guilt. It cometh not as an act of grace, but as an act of justice, if there be no guilt; but, for the display of God’s pardoning grace, guilt is needed. If thou art guilty, if thou art black, if thou art foul, thou hast all the fitness that is required; so, come, and find in Jesus Christ all that meets thy greatest and most urgent need.

Does someone ask, “But must I not have a sense of my need?” Not as a fitness for coming to Christ; for the man, who says, “I am quite fit to be saved, for I feel my need,” does not really feel his need as he should, and is the farthest off from Christ. O thou who art most empty, most guilty, most lost, most ruined, thou are the most “fit” for the great Savior to save! May the Holy Spirit enable thee to realize this, and drive out of thee the foolish notion that thy praying is to help Christ to save thee, and to take thee part of the way on the road to heaven! Thy prayer will not help the divine surgery which alone can cure thee; so, just as thou art in all thy wretchedness and sin, trust Christ to save thee, for he is able to save thee, from first to last, without any help of thine.

III. Now I am going to close by mentioning OTHER ANSWERS WHICH MAY BE GIVEN TO THIS QUESTION: “Wherefore criest thou unto me?” I will tell you my own answer to this question. I cry to God, principally, because I cannot help doing so. I cry to God for the same reason that I eat when I feel hungry, and for the same reason that I groan when I am in pain; it is the outward expression of the condition of my inward life. I cannot help praying. I think, if anyone were to say to me, “You must not kneel down to pray,” it would not make any difference to my praying. If I were not allowed to utter a word all day long, that would not affect my praying. If I could not have five minutes that I might spend in prayer by myself, I should pray all the same. Minute by minute, moment by moment, somehow or other, my heart must commune with my God. Prayer has become as essential to me as the heaving of my lungs, and the beating of my pulse. I do ask God to give me power in prayer; and I chide myself if I am lax in prayer. Still, almost unconsciously, one gets praying in the streets, praying while preaching to you; ay, sometimes, one almost prays in his sleep. One gets so into the spirit of prayer that, without always knowing it, there is a prayer leaping from the heart, and the very glance of the eye becomes a means of communion with God. So, that is my answer to the Lord’s question, “Wherefore criest thou unto me?” I pray because I cannot help doing so.

It is an equally good answer when anyone can say, “I pray because I delight in it. There is no holy exercise which is so sweet, so blessed, so delightful, so inspiring, so care-removing, as praying to my loving Heavenly Father. Nothing brings me so near to Heaven, or opens its gate so wide to me, or gives me such a foretaste of its glory, as prayer mingled with praise.”

It would be also a good answer if you should say, “I pray because I have such great needs that I cannot help praying. I have such a little faith that I must pray for more, I have so many troubles that I must pray to be delivered out of them. I feel that I have so many sins that I must pray to be cleansed from them. I have so many desires after better things that I must pray for those things to be given to me. I feel that, not merely my happiness, but my sorrow also drives me to my knees.” I do not mind how you get to the mercy-seat so long as you do get there in spirit and in truth, and do really pray. But, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I do hope that these reasons for prayer are those that you would yourselves give if the Lord were to say to each one of you, “Wherefore criest thou unto me?” I think I hear another say, “I pray because what little repentance and faith I have can express themselves best in prayer. I tell the Lord how I hate my sin, and I ask him to help me to hate it still more. I go to him when I fall, and ask him to hold me up for the future. I tell him all my faults and follies, and I ask him to teach me, and sanctify me. I find that my little faith is most at home and at ease when I go to God in prayer. I tell the Lord that I do trust him, and I ask him to increase my faith. I tell him that, if he should refuse to listen to me, I will still cling to the skirts of his garment; and if I perish, I will perish at the foot of his cross.” Well, that is the right way to pray, when prayer is the expression of penitence and faith.

“Ay,” says another, “but I pray because I get more repentance and more faith by praying.“ Just so; they grow while they are exercising themselves. He that weeps for sin, will weep more as he prays, and he that believes in Christ will believe more strongly while he expresses that believing in prayer for yet greater faith.

All these are good reasons for praying without ceasing. Perhaps one of the best is this. “I pray because I am nothing, and I cant to get to the great ‘I AM.’ I pray because I have nothing, and I know that all I can have must come from him. I pray because my poverty would fain draw upon his infinite wealth, because my weakness would drink in his eternal strength, because my sin would be a partaker of his perfect holiness, because my nothingness would find itself lost in the all sufficiency of God.” These are blessed reasons for praying, and if these are your reasons, pray on, brothers and sisters. Pray on, if you can thus answer the Lord’s question, “Wherefore criest thou unto me?”

I suppose that there may have come into this place someone who never prays. If so, I do not know where you are, friend; I am glad I do not. I should look upon you with the greatest pity if I knew you. The very thought of such a sad case as yours makes me feel heavy of heart. A man who never speaks to his Maker! A men Can he be a man? Let me look him up and down. A man, “fearfully and wonderfully made” by God, yet he never speaks to his Creator! O God, to what a terrible depth a man can sink if he can live without prayer! What a strange creature he is! A little chicken drinks, and lifts its head each time it sips; “the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass” you know how stupid the ass is, yet he knows “his master’s crib;” but here is a man, whom God has made, and kept in being all these years, and given to him a household, and made him well-to-do among his fellow-men, and kept him out of the asylum, and out of the workhouse, and out of the jail, and out of hell, and yet he never prays! O knees that never bend before the Lord; O hearts that never yield yourselves to God, are ye not accursed? Ah, sirs! assuredly a curse rests upon the man who never prays. He who prays not, believes not; and what saith the Word of God concerning the man who does not believe? “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God.” From my inmost soul, I pity even guilty men who are condemned to die because they have broken the laws of their country, and taken the lives of their fellow-creatures; yet, O ye unbelievers, their condition only differs in degree from yours, for you also are “condemned already” because you have not believed on the only-begotten Son of God! Oh, I beseech you, turn unto him ere it is too late, and you are cast into hell, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched for ever and ever! If you believe that what I have said is false, you will take no notice of it; but if you believe that this Book is indeed the Word of God, and most, if not all of you, know that it is, then, escape for your lives; look not behind you, but lay hold on eternal life, and may God the Holy Ghost enable you to do so this very moment! It is not to prayer that I exhort you; but I urge you to obey that great gospel command, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved;” and more than that, in the name of God, I command you to believe in him whom he hath sent as the only Savior of sinners. Believe on him; trust in him; and go your way forgiven. God grant it, for Jesus’ sake! Amen.

Exposition by C. H. Spurgeon.

LUKE 18:1-27.

Verse 1. And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

Especially, not to faint in prayer, not to become disheartened, or weary, even if their prayers should, for a long time, remain unanswered.

2, 3. Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.

He would not have interested himself in her case simply because she was a poor widow, he had no bowels of compassion for her; nor would it have concerned him at all that her adversary had wronged her. He did not trouble to discharge the duties appertaining to his office. No fear of God and no respect for public opinion, affected him at all.

4. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;

He even boasted of the very thing of which he ought to have been ashamed: “’I fear not God, nor regard man;’ I care for nobody, and defy everyone.”

5. Yet because this wisdom troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.

He cared for nobody but himself. He was concerned about his own peace of mind. The poor woman could win, through his selfishness, what she could not get from his sense of justice, since that had no weight with him. Her importunity won for her what nothing else could procure.

6-8. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith, and shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth.

God will hear the earnest, united, persistent cries of his people. His Church, to-day, is like a widow left forlorn. Her cries go up to God, pleading that he will vindicate her cause; and he will do so. He may wait a while; but the prayers of his people are not lost. By-and-by, he will avenge his own elect.

So is it with regard to all true prayer. Though, for wise reasons, God may delay to reply, yet he files our petitions, they are registered in heaven. Their power is accumulating, it is all adding to the great pile of supplication which is the real strength of the Church of Christ.

What a question that is, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” He can find it if anybody can, for he knows what faith is, and where faith is, but will he find any? Well, he will find so little, even amongst the best of his people, that the question may well be put; and amongst a great many who profess to have faith, he will find none at all. Brethren, we pray so feebly, we expect so little, we ask with such diffidence, we have such slight courage in prayer, that, if the Son of man himself came among us to search us, how little faith he would discover!

9-12. And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

He could not even magnify his own excellencies without sneering at the poor publican who had said nothing against him, or about him. That is a poor kind of religion which has to look down upon all others before it can look up to itself. What, O Pharisee, if others are not, apparently, so good as thou art in some things. Yet, in other things, they probably excel thee; and if thou thinkest thyself worthy of praise, thou hast never really seen thyself as thou art in God’s sight! A correct knowledge of thine own heart would have led thee to a very different conclusion. It is a good thing that the Pharisee appeared to be thankful for something; but, probably, that was merely a complimentary speech, which meant very little. He did not thank God half as much as he praised himself.

13. And the publican, standing afar off, —

Away in some distant corner,

13. Would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

He makes no reflection upon others; but confesses his own sin, and appeals to the great Propitiation, for the word he used means, “God be propitious to me, a sinner.”

14, 15. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.

Were not these children too little, and too unimportant for Christ to notice? Their understanding was not sufficiently developed to know anything that he might say; what was the use of bringing them for his blessing?

16. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God consists of child-like spirits, persons like these children. Instead of needing to grow bigger in order to be fit to be Christians, we need to grow smaller. It is not the supposed wisdom of manhood, but the simplicity of childhood, that will fit us for the reception of divine truth. Alas! we are often too much like men, if we were more like children, we should receive the kingdom of God far more readily.

17-19. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein. And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good none is good, save one, that is, God.

Yet the ruler was right. He knew not that he was speaking to One who is, assuredly, God, and; in the highest sense, good; but, since he had asked, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Christ answered his enquiry.

20, 21. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother, and he said, a these have I kept from my youth up.

All which appears to be simple enough, if you only look on the surface but when you come to recollect that there is an inward, spiritual meaning to all this, that a licentious look breaks the command about adultery, that a covetous desire is stealing, that the utterance of a slander is bearing false witness, and so on, who is he that shall enter into life upon such terms as these? Yet they cannot be lowered, for they are, spiritually, just and right.

22. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing:

Christ gives him a test. If he is what he thinks he is, he will be ready to obey whatever command God lays upon him. Christ is about to lay one upon him; let us see whether he will obey that.

22. Sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

Now, which will he love the more, the Son of God, or his wealth?

23-27. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God, and they that heard it said, Who then can be saved and he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.

Yet some men spend all their lives in the earnest endeavor to make it hard for them to be saved. They are trying, as much as ever they can, to block up the road to eternal life, hoarding up that which will be a grievous burden to them, even if God shall lead them in the way to heaven. How much better is it to live wholly unto God, and then, be we rich or be we poor, consecrate all to him, and live to his praise and glory!

5. Incense And Light No. 1710

“And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations.” Exodus 30:7,8

CERTAIN ceremonies under the law were only of annual celebration; while other matters were of daily observation; and by the daily repetition were intended to be set forth as eminently constant and perpetual. These daily ordinances were to be regarded by the children of Israel as of standing obligation, abiding types of constant necessity, never to be removed so long as the dispensation should last.

When the priest went into the tabernacle he could not enter it without being warned of sin and of sacrifice, for at the entrance of the holy place stood an altar of brass, upon which there was offered every morning a lamb and every evening a lamb. This taught that access to God was not possible except by expiation, — expiation by bloody sacrifice, expiation by the death of a substituted victim, expiation which must continue as long as sin remained. You could not enter even into the first court without the sight of an altar, and blood, and fire: thus showing us that there is no coming to God, even on the ordinary level of Christian experience, apart from the atonement made by our Lord Jesus, who is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” You cannot be heard in penitent prayer, or receive pardon, or commence the life of faith, or be even a babe in grace, except you know the great truth, that the Lord “hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Without shedding of blood remission of sin and access to God are out of the question. Paul ascribes our drawing near unto the Lord to our Savior’s perfect sacrifice, for he says, “Ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”

Before the innermost sanctuary there hung a substantial veil, and the entrance into the Holy of Holies was only permitted once in the year. If that veil had been lifted up so that we could enter, we should have found at the door a golden altar, to represent again our Lord Jesus Christ under another aspect; for on that golden altar there was offered a sweet perfume of precious spices, denoting his perpetual intercession on the behalf of his people, and his enduring merits which are continually being presented by himself before the throne of the Most High. To go within the veil you must pass by the altar of incense. Learn hence that to the door of the inner chamber of communion with God we must approach by the perfect merit of our redeeming Lord. We come not in our own merit; but we are “accepted in the Beloved.” If we have ever been favored with high and holy communion with God, such as he reserves for favored saints; if we have been enabled to come boldly to the throne of the heavenly grace, and have looked into the tempered brightness of that light which shines above the mercy-seat, we have come only by virtue of the infinite merit of our Lord Jesus. The lowest form of communion in the outer court must be by the sacrifice of Jesus; and the highest form of communion, even that which is most intense and most delightful, is still by Christ: the incense sets forth his merit, and that is not without blood, for once in the year the horns of the altar were smeared with the blood which had been carried within the veil. There was no coming within the veil without passing by the incense altar, even as there is no access to God but by the all-powerful mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us never forget this. Simple as the truth is, we are apt to pass it by as of no force. I am afraid we are apt to put the most important truths into the background because they seem to be so elementary; but we ought to remember that they are elementary only because they are essential from first to last. Never try to draw near to God in prayer, or praise, or meditation, or Scripture reading, or holy service apart from Jesus Christ, or your attempt must be a failure. Through the wall of fire which surrounds the throne you call only pass by way of the one door, namely, the body and blood or our great Mediator, Sacrifice, and Substitute. Is not that door sufficient? Why should we climb up some other way If I am very heavy or heart, do not let me try to raise my spirits, and so come in the power of human courage; but let me come just as I am, made bold through him whose comforts delight my soul. If I feel that I have been sinning, do not let me try to get rid of my sin by some other process, and then draw near to God; but let me come, sinner as I am, in the name of the sinner’s Savior, and so draw near to God, having washed my robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Jesus saith, “I am the way”: why should we seek another Have nothing to do with an absolute God; only deal with him through a mediator, and keep to that way, for no man cometh unto the Father but by the Lord Jesus. Oh, ye most experienced and privileged ones, take good note of the golden altar, and whenever ye approach the mercy-seat let the cloud of its incense cover you and perfume your prayers.

Hard by the golden altar, which was nearest to the Holy of Holies, stood the golden candlestick with its seven branches: these two instructive types were set near each other for a purpose which I would open up to-day. This candlestick was a matter of daily ordinance as much as the brazen altar of sacrifice, or the golden altar of incense: it was for continual use and was therefore dressed twice each day. We have a continual want of the precious atonement of Christ, of the intercession of Christ, and of the light of God’s Holy Spirit. These are not things for once in a year; these matters for every day and all the day, and therefore they were attended to both at morning and at evening as if to shut in all the hours of the day within two golden doors. Every morning had its lamb, its burning incense, and its lighted lamp; and the same pertained to every evening all the year round. Thus all days were fringed and bordered with this three-fold type: even as at this time all our days are sanctified by faith in the effectual expiation, joy in the prevailing intercession, and delight in the clear shining of the Spirit which makes glad all who are in the house.

This morning I desire to call your attention to the conjunction which was established by the divine law between the burning of the incense and the lighting of the lamps: these two things, being both of daily observance, were attended to at the same moment for reasons worthy of our study.

I. And first I call your attention to THE WONDERFUL COOPERATION BETWEEN THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST FOR US, AND THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN US. See how on the grandest scale the incense of intercession and the lamp of spiritual illumination are set side by side. He whose merit brings us life is in divine alliance with him who brings us light: indeed, there is such unity between them that Jesus himself is said to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ brings with it the communion of the Holy Ghost, for the Father has joined them together.

Note, that we have these both revealed in their fullness at the same time. When our Lord ascended on high to plead before the throne, the Spirit descended to abide in the Church. After the Lord was taken up the disciples received the promise of the Father and were illuminated by the Holy Ghost. Jesus our great High Priest presented the sweet savor of his own person and work before the eternal throne; and then came the Spirit of God as tongues of fire lighting up the sons of men and making them to be as candles of the Lord. Well said the apostle at Pentecost, — “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.” I say the two come historically together and we must for ever connect in our meditations the ascended Savior’s intercession and the illumination of the saints by the descended Spirit.

Now, as they were connected historically, so are they continually connected as a matter of fact. At this day it is as it was at Pentecost: our Lord hath not ceased to intercede, and the Spirit hath not ceased to illuminate. Herein lies our hope for our own eternal salvation, in the ceaseless plea and the quenchless light. For the working out of that which God is working in us, both to will and to do of his own good pleasure, we have these two guarantees and helps, — the Savior praying and the Spirit shining. Jesus is pleading, and therefore our faith fails not when Satan sifts us as wheat; the Spirit is working, and therefore the light of our faith is sustained by a secret mystic oil which prevents the enemy from putting it out. This also is our two-fold confidence when we go forth into the world to preach the gospel. Unto the Lord Jesus all power is given in heaven and in earth, and he is “able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” The Church of God must succeed in her mission because her errand is the object of the continual prayers of her living Lord. But she has her second help, namely the Comforter who abideth with us and goeth forth with the word that we preach, making it potent for the conversion of the sons of men. We have the incense of Christ’s merit pleading with God, and the light of God’s Spirit pleading with men: we have Christ as an advocate with God, and the Holy Ghost as an advocate with men. What more is needed? What joy and confidence we ought to feel in the work of the Lord since Jesus is pleading and the Spirit is striving at the same time: the incense rising, filling earth and heaven with its sweetness, and the Spirit brightly shining to the comfort and delight of those who go forth into the darkness with the name of Jesus on their lips. Joy to those who sit in darkness, and in the valley of the shadow of death, for even for them is this seven-fold light shining; and to their dank, pestilential abodes there comes the healing breath of sweet perfume from the Redeemer’s merits.

Furthermore, this conjunction, as it is a matter of history, and as it is continuous, will always be seen by us personally when our prayer is the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man that availeth much. It needs the Trinity to make a Christian, it needs the Trinity to make a Christian prayer. The Father must hear us, else of what avail are our cries But the ordained Mediator must also stand between us and the Father, presenting his merit like the smoke of sweet incense, or else our prayer can never be accepted of God; and to come down closer to ourselves, the Spirit of God must also help our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. So that whenever we pray we must have these two in happy conjunction: intercession and enlightenment: incense and light. My prayer as my own prayer is a poor, vain, defiled thing unless Jesus perfumes it; and it is a poor, dark, blind thing unless the Spirit of God has enlightened it. The Holy Spirit teaches us what to pray for, and how to order our words aright. In his light we see light. We are in the dark till he shines like the golden candlestick, and enables us to see our own need and the fullness of God’s grace. It is his light that makes our heart to see the Lord in prayer: so that we seek the Lord by the light of his own Spirit. When prayer is the work of the Spirit in the heart we are absolutely certain that it must succeed, because the Spirit maketh intercession in the saints according to the will of God. The Holy Spirit is one with the Father, and he is most truly God, so that whatever he prompts us to pray for is the same thing which the Father has already decreed and eternally determined to bestow. Our wishes and desires might never succeed with God if they were that and no more, for our thoughts are not his thoughts, neither are our ways his ways: but the thoughts and purposes of God, when these are photographed upon our spirit by the Holy Ghost, are the pictures of that which is assuredly to be, the prophecy of the determinate purpose and foreknowledge of God. What is written in yon sealed book, upon which no human eye can gaze, is transcribed and written by the Spirit of God upon our hearts, and thus we pray for that very thing which God designs to give. There is an assured certainty of success to the prayer that is made in the power of the Spirit of God. While praying in the Holy Ghost we have the petition which we have asked of the Lord.

But then there is our second comfort, that Jesus stands ready to take every prayer of ours, however imperfect in knowledge, however feeble in expression, however marred with sorrow, and he presents the purified and perfected prayer with his own merit, and it is sure to speed. The sins of our holy things are seldom absent, and hence the constant need that we have an Advocate. Blessed be God for that inspired word, “If any man sin, we have all advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” True prayer is the offering to God of the merit of the Lord Jesus, and hence it must be accepted. What can be refused to merit such as his? True prayer is presented ever by the Lord Jesus, and hence, again, its certainty of efficacy: how call the Father deny anything to the Well-beloved It is written in the book of the Revelation — And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.” Can we doubt the success of prayers presented by the angel of the covenant Assuredly not. There is such excess of perfection in Christ that it covers all our imperfection. There is such delicious sweetness in Christ to the Father that it effectually destroys the ill savor of anything that comes from us; and by its power we ourselves become unto God a sweet savor; and so also are our prayers when they are presented by Jesus Christ. I like to think of the incense, and of the lamp, and, best of all, of the two together, for these two enable me to come boldly to the throne of the heavenly grace to obtain mercy and find grace. Acceptance through sweet savor, and light through divine teaching, are both mine as my soul waiteth upon God, with her expectation turned towards him.

Nor ought I to pass away from this first head without noting that in God’s drawing war to man there is the same conjunction of incense and light. If the glory of God were to come forth from between the cherubim, if it should come past the veil to be revealed throughout the world, that glory would pass by these two, the golden altar of incense and the golden lamp of light. I mean this: God can have no dealing with men at all except through the merit of Christ and the light of the Spirit. As for the work of our Lord Jesus, you and I believe in the special substitution of Christ for his elect; what we call “particular redemption” is held most firmly by us; for we believe that he redeemed us from among men, and that he laid down his life for the sheep. Yet there are many passages of Scripture which speak of the work of Christ as having a universal tearing. He is “the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.” We are told that by the grace of God “he tasted death for every man.” Now, the atonement of Christ is many-sided, and may be viewed in very different lights; and while I trust we shall never even be shaky about the question of his literal and effectual substitution for his own chosen, whereby he offered for them a most sure, effectual, and perfect satisfaction, so that no sin earl ever be laid to their charge, yet there is, on the other hand, a general and universal view of his atoning work. God could not have dealt with the world at all in the way of mercy apart from the sacrifice of Christ. The only thing which could have been done with the race of man was to have crushed it out for ever if Christ had not stood for them as an interposer. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. For the sake of the man Christ Jesus God was able to look upon the fallen race in justice, and yet prepare mercy for the guilty. Men owe their lives to the sacrifice of Christ. Men owe the various alleviations of their sorrows by God’s gracious tenderness in providence to the sacrifice dof Christ. Above all, that free and honest proclamation of salvation to every man that will believe in Christ Jesus is rendered possible by the wondrous, perfect, unlimited, illimitable merit which resided in the person and work of such an one as Jesus our Lord.

The picture before you is a very beautiful one. Here are spices of the most precious kind, made up into a compound such as never was compounded for any other purpose. This divinely-appointed mixture of sweet odours is placed in the censer upon the golden altar — that is to say, eternal acceptance is found in the person of Christ. The incense is kindled with fire from on high. What follows? The spices begin to burn, and up ascends a pillar of smoke. See how it rises high into the clear air, and as it rises it expands like a cloud, covers the sky, is wafted all around, and perfumes the whole air with its own exceeding fragrance. It rises and rises till it enters heaven — yea, and the heaven of heavens; its sacred odour is recognised in every golden street; it fills every chamber of the glorious “house of God not made with hands;” it ascends to the throne of his excellent Majesty, and the Lord is well pleased with it, and again is fulfilled the word which is written concerning the burnt-offering of Noah “The Lord smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again smite everything living as I have done.” Such is the merit of Christ that through its sweet savor God looks down upon the world and treats it with longsuffering, and tenderness, and mercy. Is it not a blessed picture As a just and holy God he could not deal with a guilty race except through a mediatorial sacrifice, which should wrap mankind in its cloud of merit, and reconcile the world unto himself.

And now you and I may follow in the track of God, and go out and preach the gospel to every creature without the slightest fear, because the whole air is perfumed with the incense of a Savior’s mediatorial work. Although not perceptible by carnal sense, yet the inward spirit in the soul of the believer perceives the grateful odour of the finished work of the everliving Savior sweetening all things, so that now we call nothing common or unclean, but are prepared to deliver our message to the vilest of the vile. God in Christ is kind even to the unthankful and the evil, and wills that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men; and that to every creature the gospel should be preached. We shall not, however, proceed to any practical purpose unless we recollect next that, when God comes to deal with men, it is with the light of the Spirit as well as with the merit of Christ. The golden candlestick is as needful as the golden censer: for God’s work among men is ever by his Spirit. He is seeking out his people as the woman sought out her lost piece of money, and it is significant that it is written, “She did light a candle, and sweep the house.” God in his work: of salvation comes to men with the candle of his word lighted through the Holy Spirit; and through the teaching of his word from day to day that Spirit shines as from a lantern among the sons of men. If you and I would follow in the track or God, as his dear children imitating him, we must take with us continually the light of the gospel or the glory of God, and by the power and light of his Spirit we must make known to men the unsearchable riches of Christ. To us Jehovah is our light and our salvation, and when we go in his name we must not go without the light. Thus you see we come, to God by the incense, and the light; and even so doth God come down to man to bless him.

II. Secondly, our text seems to me to teach THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PRAYER AND KNOWLEDGE. The golden altar represents intercession offered by Christ, and also the prayers of all the saints, which are accepted through his intercession; and as the candlestick stood side by side with it, and represented the light of the Spirit of truth, so must true prayer and true knowledge never be separated.

So I gather, first, that prayer should be attended with knowledge. It is ill when men worship they know not what. God is light, and he will not have his people worship him in the dark. When they burn the incense they must also light the lamp. In the Romish Church the mass of the people repeat prayers in an unknown tongue, having no idea of what their meaning may be, and this is both a grievous wrong to the people and a mockery of God. What can be the good of such prayers in the sight of him who seeketh those to worship him who worship him in spirit and in truth Mere sounds without meaning are not prayer: understanding, desire, and heart must go with every word, or else the prayers are vain repetitions, such is the heathen employ. Supplicants must know what they arc asking, or they are not really asking. And you, dear people of God, please notice that the more divine knowledge you get, all things being equal, the more complete will your prayers become. “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”: light the lamp at the same time that you kindle the incense.

For instance, when you pray, what prayer can there be without knowing God our Father? How can you pray aright to an unknown God? The more knowledge of God the more correct does prayer become. He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. What prayer can there be apart from the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ? If we know nothing of him by whom we pray, how full of sins of ignorance will our prayers be! It is well also to have a deep, sensible knowledge of sin. Penitential prayers are impossible without this, and how can prayers be accepted if penitence be not mixed with our petitions We want at the same time that we have the knowledge of sin to have also a knowledge of our own weakness. The man who is consciously weak prays for strength; but he who dreams that he is strong will not do so. You need to study yourselves before you pray, so as to ask for those things in which you are most deficient, and for protection against, those constitutional tendencics or besetting sins to which you are most subject. The prayer of ignorance is like an arrow shot by a blind man, which is not likely to hit the mark. In proportion as petitions arise from a heart fully instructed in its own necessities they will be likely to ask for the right blessings, and to be prepared aright before the Lord. David wished his prayers to be accepted, and hence he cried, “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense.”

A supremely excellent piece of knowledge is to know the promises which we are to plead. Here you have the very sinews of prayer. When a man knows the promise suitable to his case, and lays it before God, saying, “Do as thou hast said,” he presents the best form of supplication. Remember how Jacob pleaded with the Lord the sacred word of promise, saying, “Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good.” When we have looked at all the bearings of the petition so as to make quite certain that it is a petition the fulfillment of which will glorify God; when we see that it must be consistent with the divine will because of the various statements which God has made in his word, and because of promises which he has given concerning the matter: then, with the lamp shining clearly upon us, we shall kindle the incense the more discreetly and boldly, and both our prayers and our meditations will be the more accepted of the Lord. Do try, especially, dear brethren, you that pray in public, to light the lamps when you kindle the incense. It will be for the good of us all if petitions are thoughtful, suitable, Scriptural, and withal fresh and hearty. Let us never degenerate into repeating the same expressions till the grow to be cant; let us never drop into the use of hackneyed prayers for everything in general and for nothing in particular; but as instructed men, having thought of what we are going to say, having adapted our prayer to our circumstances and needs, let us order our case before the Lord, and fill our mouth with arguments. Burn the incense of prayer in the light of the Spirit of revelation, praying in the Holy Ghost.

But now turn the thought round the other way — knowledge should always be accompanied by prayer. Whenever we are taught of God, his teaching almost always comes in connection with prayer; but lest we should solely try to learn and forget to pray, let me remind you of a few particulars. Dear brother, as a Christian thou art a disciple, or student; be also a suppliant. When thou art impressed with the greatness, or the goodness, or the immutability, or the faithfulness of God, straightway turn thine impressions into supplications. Pray the great God to be gracious to thee; ask the unchangeable God to be the same to thee; be the faithful God to keep his promises to thee; implore the mighty God to uphold thee. As thou learnest more and more of God, place the light near the incense by using thy knowledge in thy pleadings. To employ all thy knowledge as fuel for prayer will be the best way of utilising thy acquirements; it will stamp truth firmly on thy memory, and it will sanctify thy heart.

When thou knowest more of the Savior pray thy way to him by it, as ships move into haven by their sails. If thou hast seen his manhood, go and plead his sympathy with thee in thy weakness. If thou hast thought more of his Deity, go and worship him more reverently, and pray that his glory may be seen among the sons of men. Whatever point in the unutterable glory of his perfection breaks most upon thy mind, pray most that way; opening thy window towards the sunrise. So will the Lord teach thee more, and so shalt thou have profited by that which thou hast learned.

If from day to day, my brother, thou learnest more of thy sinfulness, then thou hast more errands with which to come to the mercy-seat; and if thou dost make a now discovery by experience of thy corruption and indwelling sin, fly at once to the throne of grace with thy discovery lest it weigh thee down and drive thee to despondency. Make a ladder of thy needs wherewith to climb nearer to heaven. The more thy necessities the more urgent let thine importunity be. Cry mightily to God because of the greatness of thy poverty. I do not think there is anything in the Scriptures which we cannot pray over. If we learn the devices of the devil, let us pray against them. If we learn the depravity of mankind let us pray God’s Holy Spirit to create men’s hearts anew. Everything from the first of Genesis to the end of Revelation, when we truly know it, furnishes us with fresh arguments for drawing near to God. Revealed truth is as a church-bell summoning us to come into, the presence of the Lord, and bow the knee before him. As you hear a sermon turn it into prayer; even if you find that there is nothing in the sermon, it may benefit you if you pray God to feed his poor famished people. If you will pray all through his discourse every preacher will minister to your edification directly or indirectly. If you are set upon praying by the lighting of the tiniest candle that ever glimmered, there will at least be sweetness in the incense even if there be no brilliance in the lamp.

III. I desire, in the third place, to show SOME SPECIAL PRACTICAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THE INCENSE AND THE LAMP. Let us read the text again: “And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.” So, then, there should be prayer especially at the dressing of the lamps: that is to say, when preparing our minds for that ministry by which we enlighten the people among whom we dwell we should be specially earnest in prayer. Preparation for preaching and teaching is most important: God’s work is not to be done carelessly as boys shoot arrows at random in their play. We must prepare both by reading and pleading: we must, like the apostles, give ourselves to the word of God and prayer. We are told by ancient Rabbis that when the priest who was appointed for that office went into the holy place he took with him the golden snuffers and the golden snuff dishes, and a vessel full of pure olive oil and by the help of these be attended to the trimming of the golden lamp. There were seven lamps on the candelabra: some of these might have gone quite out during the night; he would have to take away whatever of snuff remained, wipe out the lamp, place a new wick, fill up with fresh oil, and then kindle the flame anew. In another lamp it may be the light was still burning but feebly: he might have simply to snuff it, take away the “the superfluity of naughtiness” in the golden snuff dish and make all things clean and right. Sometimes the light might be burning well and nothing was needed but to replenish it with oil. Thus all was set in order for another day. The like was done in the evening. In the process of trimming lamps there is a measure of offense: snuffs do not give forth a very dainty perfume, and the smear and smelt of oil are not altogether of sweet savor; therefore, before he trimmed the lamps, the priest kindled the incense. No snuff would then be offensive, for the overpowering fragrance of the incense killed it all and prevented the prevalence of any odour unfit for the house of God. When we go into our studies to try and trim our lamps let us remember that our first business is to pray. Alas, we have much of smoking wick about us; much negligence, much ignorance, many mistakes and errors; and thereby we shall grieve the Lord if Jesus is not called in to cover all. When we are preparing in secret to serve the Lord in public we shall make poor work or it if we do not beforehand draw near to God in prayer. We need that our garments should be made to smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia by being covered with the merit of Jesus, or else we shall offend even while engaged in the holy act of preparing to spread abroad the light of divine truth. You have to trim your lamps, brethren, and sisters, when you go into the Sunday-school — at least, I hope you do. I hope you do not run into your class with anything which first comes to hand: if you do not snuff your candles and food your lamps with fresh oil your children will sit in darkness before a lamp which does not shine. No, there ought to be careful preparation, according as your time and ability will allow, and above all the pouring in of the holy oil of the Holy Spirit, by fresh fellowship with Jesus. In that process one of the chief elements is prayer. Dr. Adam Clarke used to say to young ministers, “Study yourselves dead, and then pray yourselves alive again; “and that is an excellent rule. Work in your study as if it all depended upon you, and then go forth and speak, trusting in God because all depends upon him. Remember that the chief part of all study of God’s word must be prayer. This is the boring-rod and the powder by which we burst open the great rocks of truth. “To have prayed well is to have studied well,” said Martin Luther, and so most certainly it is; therefore let none of us when we dress the lamp forget the incense.

What a double privilege comes of this! This priest, you see, had thus two things to do for the Lord. If he was called only to light the lamp, that would have been one happy, blessed service: but if he must burn the incense too, he has a double portion of honor in thus doubly serving the Lord his God. So when you are preparing to light up the people, or preparing to enlighten your children in the class, what a happy necessity it is which calls upon you at the same time to pray! It is one of the greatest privileges of preachers and teachers, that they are driven to pray more than other people, for they have greater necessities: they have necessities that come upon them because of their office, and these drive them to more frequent supplication, and so their labors become a means of grace to their own souls. Let us thank our Lord Jesus that he hath made us kings and priests unto our God, and that he permits us both to let our lights shine before men, and our prayers ascend before God.

One thing more, this burning of the incense was not only at the dressing of the lamps, but also at the kindling of the lamps, when they began to shine. I want to plead, dear friends, very heartily with you that when it is my privilege to come here this week and at all other times to light the lamps, you who are my beloved helpers will take care to burn the incense at the same time. We need the incense of prayer more than ever in these latter days. Did you ever notice in Ezekiel 41:22 that an altar of incense is spoken of, but its dimensions are twice as great as those of the golden altar in the Tabernacle: as if, say some, to teach us that in these gospel times prayer would become more abundant and would be offered up more frequently than ever. The Gentiles have an altar which presents more incense to the Lord than that which was served by Aaron; and inasmuch as it is more purely spiritual it is all the more acceptable with God. The altar mentioned by Ezekiel was of wood, as if to show that our worship is to become more simple, and to be more divested of everything that is pompous and showy: indeed, the altar disappears, and we read, “This is the table that is before the Lord”: you will guess the meaning.

Malachi has a glorious prophecy. “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.” Are you not charmed by the divine prophecy? Will you not, yourselves, help to fulfill it.

We know that this altar of incense meant prayer, because the Jews themselves so interpreted it. In the first chapter of Luke we read of Zacharias, that it was his turn in the order of his course to go into the holy place to offer incense, and it says, “And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.” Just so, the offering of incense clearly means prayer, and therefore I plead, that while we are lighting the lamps by preaching the gospel, you will burn the incense by being constantly in prayer. Brethren, pray for us. Paul spake thus; how much more may I Dismiss me or else intercede for me. Joshua could not prevail except as Moses held up his hands. Our lamp- lighting will not succeed unless you burn the incense. Peter’s sermon at Pentecost did not derive its force from Peter’s zeal, or from its own eloquence, but from another source. Of course, all the power came from the Spirit of God; but why did the Spirit of God work so mightily on that day ? Surely it was because the entire church was earnestly praying while Peter was preaching. “They were all with one accord in one place”: nobody was away, they were all there, and when, the one man stood up to preach, he might well light three thousand lamps, for all the fervent company of the faithful were causing the incense of prayer to ascend to heaven. I want your prayers for the sermon of to-night. You will not be here, for strangers are invited to occupy your seats; and therefore I beg you in your houses to cry unto the Lord for me that the word may have free course, and that my hearers may feel its power. It might be the most profitable expenditure of time that ever happened to you if you would spend the whole evening in prayer. Beseech the Lord to bring the people to this house; and to bring the right sort of people, rich and poor, believers and infidels, moral people and the depraved. We do not know who will come. Some of them do not know whether they will come themselves or not; but the Lord may influence in various ways those individuals to come whom he designs to bless. Pray that the fish may come in shoals round the boat. When the congregation is gathered, pray that the speaker may be guided of the Holy Spirit to a right theme. The preacher has no manuscript, so that there is room for the Spirit’s guidance, and he maybe led to say what he never thought of saying: the right word may thus be spoken in the right way, so as to reach the heart. Then pray that there may be given the willing car, the receptive mind, the retentive memory; that impressions may be made to-night, and at all other times, such as even Satan cannot remove. And, oh, pray that many may decide for God to-night who have been halting between two opinions; many converted who have not before found the Savior’s face; many led into the joy of the Lord who have been hitherto of a sorrowful spirit. I shall feel it a joyous work to be the lamplighter to-night for my Master, if I know that I have you at home pleading earnestly on my behalf. Give me this aid this morning. Pray God to bless each word that has been spoken. Pray that some poor sinner’s soul may be perfumed by the merits of Jesus and illuminated with the light divine; and it shall be done, for the Lord heareth his people. We want more and more to be a praying church, and then we shall be a growing church: hitherto we have had a great blessing, but the windows of heaven are wide enough for a greater one to come down through them. The more we plead with God, and the more we set forth the light of the gospel, the more will God be with us, and build up in this place a temple for his praise. May his love be with you. Amen.

These sermons were delivered by different speakers, including Spurgeon, at a special Conference held in the Tabernacle when it was first opened in 1861. It is an excerpt from the 1861 volume of MTP.

No Spurgeon sermon ever created so much controversy or reached so wide a circulation as this one. A “storm of protest” was raised by the Church of England faithful in opposition to this “attack” upon their theory of baptismal new birth, but the protests only served to increase the demand for copies of the message.

6.The Mediation Of Moses No. 2398

“And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.”Exodus 32:14

I SUPPOSE that I need not say that this verse speaks after the manner of men. I do not know after what other manner we can speak. To speak of God after the manner of God, is reserved for God himself; and mortal men could not comprehend such speech. In this sense, the Lord often speaks, not according to literal fact, but according to the appearance of things to us, in order that we may understand so far as the human can comprehend the divine. The Lord’s purposes never really change. His eternal will must forever be the same; for he cannot alter, since he would either have to alter for the better or for the worse. He cannot change for the better, for he is infinitely good; it were blasphemous to suppose that he could change for the worse. He who sees all things at once, and perceives at one glance the beginning and the end of all things, has no need to repent. “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent;” but, in the course of his action, there appears to us to be sometimes a great change, and as we say of the sun that it rises and sets, though it does not actually do so, and we do not deceive when we speak after that fashion, so we say concerning God, in the language of the text, “The Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” It appears to us to be so, and it is so in the act of God; yet this statement casts no doubt upon the great and glorious doctrine of the immutability of God.

Speaking after the manner of men, the mediation of Moses wrought this change in the mind of God. God in Moses seemed to overcome God out of Moses. God in the Mediator, the Man Christ Jesus, appears to be stronger for mercy than God apart from the Mediator. This saying of our text is very wonderful, and it deserves our most earnest and careful consideration. Just think, for a minute, of Moses up there in the serene solitude with God. He had Left the tents of Israel down below, and he had passed within the mystic circle of fire where none may come but he who is specially invited; and there, alone with God, Moses had a glorious season of fellowship with the Most High. He lent his listening ear to the instructions of the Almighty concerning the priesthood, and the tabernacle, and the altar; and he was enjoying a profound peace of mind, when, on a sudden, he was startled. The whole tone of the speech of the Lord seemed changed, and he said to Moses, “Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.” I can hardly imagine what thoughts passed through the great leader’s mind. How Moses must have trembled in the presence of God! All the joy that he had experienced seemed suddenly to vanish, leaving behind, however, somewhat of the strength which always comes out of fellowship with God. This Moses now needed if ever he needed it in all his life; for this was the crucial period in the history of Moses, this was his severest trial, when, alone with God on the mountain’s brow, he was called to come out of the happy serenity of his spirit, and to hear the voice of an angry God, saying, “Let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them.” The language of God was very stern; and well it might be after all that he had done for that people. When the song of Miriam had scarcely ceased, when you might almost hear the echoes of that jubilant note, “Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea;” you might quickly have heard a very different cry, “Up, make us gods;” and, in the presence of the calf that Aaron made, the same people blasphemously exclaimed, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” Such a prostitution of their tongues to horrid blasphemies against Jehovah, such a turning aside from the truth to the grossest of falsehoods, might well provoke the anger of a righteously jealous God.

It is noteworthy that Moses did not lose himself in this moment of trial. We read at once, “And Moses besought Jehovah his God.” He was undoubtedly a man of prayer, but he must have been continually in the spirit of prayer, or else I could conceive of him, at that moment, falling on his face, and lying there in silent horror. I could imagine him flying down the mountain in a passionate haste to see what the people had done; but it is delightful to find that he did neither of these two things, but that he began to pray. Oh, friends, if we habitually pray, we shall know how to pray when praying times become more pressing than usual! The man who is to wrestle with the angel must have been familiar with angels beforehand. You cannot go into your chamber, and shut to the door, and begin a mighty intercessory prayer if you have never been to the mercy-seat before. No, Moses is “the man of God.” You remember that he left us a prayer, in the ninetieth Psalm, bearing this title, “A prayer of Moses the man of God.” There is no man of God if there is no prayer, for prayer makes the man into “the man of God.” So, instinctively, though startled and saddened to the last degree, Moses is on his knees, beseeching the Lord his God.

I. This, then, is the scene I have to bring before you, and my first observation shall be, that NOTHING CAN HINDER A TRULY LOVING SPIRIT FROM PLEADING FOR THE OBJECTS OF ITS LOVE. There were many things that might have hindered Moses from making intercessory prayer; and the first was, the startling greatness of the people’s sin. God himself put it to Moses in strong language. He said, “The people have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” This terrible accusation from the mouth of God, spoken as God would speak it, must have impressed Moses greatly with the awful character of Israel’s sin; for, farther on, we find Moses saying to God, “Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.” It has happened to you, I suppose, as it has to me, that in the sight of a great sin one has almost hesitated to pray about it. The person sinned so wantonly, under circumstances so peculiarly grievous, transgressed so willfully and so altogether without excuse, that you felt thrust back from the mercy-seat and from pleading for such a sinner; but it was not so with Moses. Idolatry is a horrible sin, yet Moses is not kept back from pleading for its forgiveness. It astounds him, his own wrath waxes hot against it; but still, there he is, pleading for the transgressors. What else can he do but pray? And he does that after the best possible fashion. Oh, let us never say, when we see great sin, “I am appalled by it; I cannot pray about it; I am sickened by it, I loathe it.” Some time ago, we had revelations of the most infamous criminality in this great city, which we cannot even now quite forget; and I must confess that I sometimes felt as if I could not pray for some of the wretches who sinned so foully; but we must shake off that kind of feeling, and, even in the presence of the most atrocious iniquity, we must still say, “I will pray even for these Jerusalem sinners, that God may deliver them from the bondage of their sin.”

A second thing that might have hindered Moses was, not only the sin, but the manifest obstinacy of those who had committed the sin. Moses had it upon the evidence of the heart-searching God that these people were exceedingly perverse. The Lord said, “I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people.” Poor Moses had to learn, in after years, how true that saying was, for though he poured out his very soul for them, and was tender towards them as a nurse with a child yet they often vexed and wearied his spirit so that he cried to the Lord, “Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers?” He was crushed beneath the burden of Israel’s perversity; yet, though God himself had told him that they were a stiff-necked people, Moses besought the Lord concerning these obstinate sinners.

Then, thirdly, the prayer of Moses might have been hindered by the greatness of God’s wrath; yet he said, “Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people?” Shall I pray for the man with whom God is angry? Shall I dare to be an intercessor with God who is righteously wrathful? Why, some of us scarcely pray to the merciful God in this gospel dispensation in which he is so full of goodness and long-suffering; there are some who profess to be God’s people who make but very little intercession for the ungodly. I am afraid that, if they had seen God angry, they would have said, “It is of no use to pray for those idolaters. God is not unjustly angry. He knows what he does, and I must leave the matter there.” But mighty love dares to cast itself upon its face before even an angry God; it dares to plead with him, and to ask him, “Why doth thy wrath wax hot?” although it knows the reason, and lays no blame upon the justice of God. Yes, love and faith together bring such a holy daring into the hearts of men of God that they can go into the presence of the King of kings, and cast themselves down before him, even when he is in his wrath, and say, “O God, spare thy people; have mercy upon those with whom thou art justly angry!”

Perhaps it is an even more remarkable thing that Moses was not hindered from praying to God though, to a large degree at the time, and much more afterwards, he sympathized with God in his wrath. We have read how Moses’ anger waxed hot when he saw the calf, and the dancing; do you not see the holy man dashing the precious tablets upon the earth, regarding them as too sacred for the unholy eyes of idolaters to gaze upon? He saves them, as it were, from the desecration of contact with such a guilty people by breaking them to shivers upon the ground. Can you not see how his eyes flash fire as he tears down their idol, burns it in the fire, grinds it to powder, straws it upon the water, and makes them drink it? He is determined that it shall go into their very bowels; they shall be made to know what kind of a thing it was that they called a god. He was exceedingly wroth with Aaron; and when he bade the sons of Levi draw the sword of vengeance, and slay the audacious rebels, his wrath was fiercely hot, and rightly so. Yet he prays for the guilty people. Oh, never let your indignation against sin prevent your prayers for sinners! If the tempest comes on, and your eyes flash lightning’s, and your lips speak thunderbolts, yet let the silver drops of pitying tears fall down your cheek, and pray the Lord that the blessed shower may be acceptable to himself, especially when you plead for Jesus’ sake. Nothing can stay the true lover of men’s souls from pleading for them; nay, not even our burning indignation against infamous iniquity. We see it, and our whole blood boils at the sight; yet we betake ourselves to our knees, and cry, “God be merciful to these great sinners, and pardon them, for Jesus’ sake!”

A still greater hindrance to the prayer of Moses than those I have mentioned was, God’s request for the pleading to cease. The Lord himself said to the intercessor, “Let me alone.” Oh, friends, I fear that you and I would have thought that it was time to leave off praying when the Lord with whom we were pleading said, “Let me alone: let me alone.” But I believe that Moses prayed the more earnestly because of that apparent rebuff. Under the cover of that expression, if you look closely into it, you will see that Moses’ prayer was really prevailing with God. Even before he had uttered it, while it was only being formed in his soul, Jehovah felt the force of it; else he would not have said, “Let me alone.”

And Moses appeared to gain courage from that which might have checked a less earnest suppliant; he seemed to say to himself, “Evidently God feels the force of my strong desires, and I will therefore wrestle with him until I prevail” It was a real rebuff, and was, doubtless, intended by the Lord to be the test of the patience, the perseverance, the confidence, the self-denying love of Moses. Jehovah says, “Let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them;” but Moses will not let him alone. O you who love the Lord, give him no rest until he saves men; and though he himself should seem to say to you, “Let me alone,” do not let him alone, for he wishes you to be importunate with him, like that widow was with the unjust judge! The wicked man granted the poor woman’s request because of her continual coming; and God is testing and trying you to see whether you really mean your prayers. He will keep you waiting a while, and even seem to repulse you, that you may, with an undaunted courage, say, “I will approach thee; I will break through all obstacles to get to thee. Even if it be not according to the law, I will go in unto the King of kings; and if I perish, I perish; but I will pray for sinners even if I perish in the act.”

And, dear friends, there is one thing more that might have hindered the prayer of Moses. I want to bring this all out, that you may see how tenderhearted love will pray in spite of every difficulty. Moses prayed against his own personal interests, for Jehovah said to him, “Let me alone, that I may consume them;” and then, looking with a glance of wondrous satisfaction upon his faithful servant, he said, “I will make of thee a great nation.” What an opportunity for an ambitious man! Moses may become the founder of a great nation if he will. You know how men and women, in those old days, panted to be the progenitors of innumerable peoples, and looked upon it as the highest honor of mortal men that their seed should fill the earth. Here is the opportunity for Moses to become the father of a nation that God will bless. All the benedictions of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, are to be met in Moses and his seed; but no, he will not have it so. He turns to God, and cries to him still to bless the sinful people. It seems as if he passed over the offer that God made, sub silent, as we say; leaving it in utter silence, he cries, “Spare thy people, and bless thine heritage.”

II. Now I introduce to you a second thought, which is, that NOTHING CAN DEPRIVE A LOVING SPIRIT OF ITS ARGUMENTS IN PRAYER FOR OTHERS. It is one thing to be willing to besiege the throne of grace; but it is quite another thing to get the ammunition of prayer. Sometimes you cannot pray, for prayer means the pleading of arguments; and there are times when arguments fail you, when you cannot think of any reason why you should pray. Now there was no argument in these people, nothing that Moses could see in them that he could plead with God for them; so he turned his eyes another way, he looked to God, and pleaded what he saw in him. His first argument was, that the Lord had made them his people. He said, “Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people?” The Lord had said to Moses, “Get thee down, for thy people have corrupted themselves.” “No,” says Moses, “they are not my people; they are thy people.” It was a noble “retort courteous “, as it were, upon the ever-blessed One. “In thy wrath thou callest them my people; but thou knowest that they are none of mine; they are thine, thou didst choose their fathers, and thou didst enter into covenant with them, and I remind thee that they are thy chosen ones, the objects of thy love and mercy; and therefore, O Lord, because they are thine, wilt thou not bless them?” Oh, use that argument in your supplications I If you cannot say of a sinner that he is God’s chosen, at least you can say that he is God’s creature; therefore use that plea, “O God, suffer not thy creature to perish!

Next, Moses pleads that the Lord had done great things for them, for he says, “Why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?” “I never brought Israel out of Egypt,” says Moses, “how could I have done it? I did not divide the Red Sea; I did not smite Pharaoh; thou hast done it, O Lord, thou alone hast done it; and if thou hast done all this, wilt thou not finish what thou hast begun?” This was grand pleading on the part of Moses, and I do not wonder that it prevailed. Now, if you see any sign of grace, any token of God’s work in the heart, plead it with the Lord. Say, “Thou hast done so much, O Lord; be pleased to do the rest, and let these people be saved with thine everlasting salvation!”

Then Moses goes on to mention, in the next place, that the Lord’s name would be compromised if Israel should be destroyed. He says, “Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth?” If God’s people are not saved, if Christ does not see of the, travail of his soul, the majesty of God and the honor of the Redeemer will be compromised. Shall Christ die to no purpose? Shall the gospel be preached in vain? Shall the Holy Spirit be poured out without avail? Let us plead thus with God, and we shall not be short of arguments that we may urge with him.

Moses goes on to mention that God was in covenant with these people. See how he puts it in the thirteenth verse: “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.” There is no pleading with God like reminding him of his covenant. Get a hold of a promise of God, and you may pray with great boldness, for the Lord will not run back from his own word; but get a hold of the covenant, and you may plead with the greatest possible confidence. If I may compare a single promise to one great gun in the heavenly siege-train, then the covenant may be likened to a whole park of artillery; with that, you may besiege heaven, and come off a conqueror. Moses pleads thus with the Lord: “How canst thou destroy these people, even though thou art angry with them, and they deserve thy wrath? Thou hast promised to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, that their seed shall inherit the land; and if they be destroyed, how can they enter into Canaan, and possess it?” This is grand pleading; but what bravery it was ‘when Moses dared to say to God, “Remember thy covenant, and turn from thy fierce anger, and repent of thy thoughts of evil against thy people”! O Lord, teach us also how to plead like this!

Nor was Moses without another argument, the most wonderful of all. If you read in the next chapter, at the sixteenth verse, you will notice how Moses says to God, in effect, “I cannot be parted from these people; with them I will live; with them I will die. If thou blottest their name out of thy book, blot out my name also. If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us?” See how he puts it: “land thy people.. Thou goest with us.” “No,” says Moses, “I will not be favored alone; I will sink or swim with these people.” And I do think that this is how the Lord Jesus Christ pleads for his Church when he is interceding with God. “My Father,” says he, “I must have my people. My Church is my bride, and I, the Bridegroom, cannot lose my spouse. I will die for her; and if I live, she must live also; and if I rise to glory, she must be brought to glory with me.” You see, it is, “I and thy people;” this is the glorious conjunction of Christ with us as it was of Moses with the children of Israel. And, brethren, we never prevail in prayer so much as when we seem to link ourselves with the people for whom we pray. You cannot stand up above them, as though you were their superior, and then pray for them with any success; you must get down by the side of the sinner, and say, “Let us plead with God.” Sometimes, when you are preaching to people, or when you are praying for them, you must feel as if you could die for them, if they might be saved, and if they were lost it would seem as if you, too, had lost everything. Rutherford said that he should have two heavens if but one soul from Anwoth met him at God’s right hand; and, doubtless, we shall have the same, and we have sometimes felt as if we had a hell at the thought of any of our hearers being cast into hell. When you can pray like that, when you put yourself side by side with the soul for which you are pleading, you will succeed. You will be like Elisha, when he stretched himself upon the Shunammite’s son, and put his mouth upon the child’s mouth, his eyes upon the child’s eyes, his hands upon the child’s hands, and seemed to identify himself with the dead child. Then was he made the means of quickening to the lad. God help us to plead thus in our prayers for sinners!

There is one other thing, which I think has hardly ever been noticed, and that is the way in which Moses finished his prayer by pleading the sovereign mercy of the Lord. When you are pleading with a man, it is sometimes a very wise thing to stop your own pleading, and let the man himself speak, and then out of his own mouth get your argument. When Moses pleaded with God for the people, he had at first only half an answer; and he turned round to the Lord, and said, “Thou hast favored me, and promised to me great things; now I ask something more of thee. ‘I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.’“ I do not think that was idle curiosity on the part of Moses, but that he meant to use it as the great master-plea in prayer. When the Lord said to him, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee,” I think I see the tears in the eyes of Moses, and I seem to hear him say, “He cannot smite the people, he cannot destroy them. He is going to make all his goodness pass before me, and I know what that is, infinite love, infinite mercy, mercy that endureth for ever.” And then, when the Lord said, “I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will show mercy,” how the heart of Moses must have leaped within him as he said, “There it is, that glorious truth of divine sovereignty; the Lord will shew mercy on whom he will show mercy. Why, then, he can have mercy on these wicked wretches who have been making a god out of a calf, and bowing before it!” I do delight, sometimes, to fall back upon the sovereignty of God, and say, “Lord, here is a wicked wretch; I cannot see any reason why thou shouldst save him! I can see many reasons why thou shouldst damn him; but then thou doest as thou wilt. Oh, magnify thy sovereign grace by saving this great sinner! Let men see what a mighty King thou art, and how royally thou dost handle the silver scepter of thy pardoning mercy.”

That is a grand argument, for it gives God all the glory; it puts him upon the throne; it acknowledges that he is an absolute Sovereign, who is not to be dictated to, or held in with bonds and cords. Shall he not do as he wills with his own? We need often to listen to the sublime truth that thunders out from the throne of God, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So, then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” Out of this truth comes the best plea that ever trembles on a pleader’s lips. “Great King, eternal, immortal, invisible, have mercy upon us! Divine Sovereign, exercise thy gracious dispensing power, and let the guilty rebels live!”

III. Now, in the third place, let me say that NOTHING CAN HINDER A PLEADING SPIRIT OF SUCCESS. The text says, “The Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” If you and I know how to plead for sinners, there is no reason why we should not succeed, for, first, there is no reason in the character of God. Try, if you can, to got some idea of what God is; and though you tremble before his sovereignty, and adore his holiness, and magnify his justice, remember that he is still, first and foremost, love. “God is love,” and that love shines in all the divine attributes, It is undiminished in its glory by any one of them. All the attributes of God are harmonious with each other, and love seems to be the very center of the circle. Let us never be afraid of pleading with God. He will never take it ill on our part that we pray for sinners, for it is so much after his own mind. “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way, and live.” The character of God is infinitely gracious; oven in its sovereignty, it is grace that reigns; therefore, let us never be afraid of pleading with the Lord. We shall surely succeed, for there is nothing in God’s character to hinder us.

And, next, there is nothing in God’s thought to hinder the pleader’s success. Look at the text: “The Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” I will therefore never be hindered in my pleading by any idea of the divine purpose, whatever that purpose may be. There are some who have dreaded what they call “the horrible decrees of God.” No divine decree is horrible to me; and it shall never hinder me in pleading with the Lord for the salvation of men. He is God; therefore let him do what seemeth him good, absolute authority is safe enough in his hands. But even if he had thought to do evil to his people, there is no reason why we should cease from praying; we may yet succeed, for so the text has it, “Jehovah repented of the evil, which he thought to do unto his people.” I will go yet farther, and say that there is nothing even in God’s act to hinder us from pleading with success. If God has begun to smite the sinner, as long as that sinner is in this world, I will still pray for him. Remember, how, when the fiery rain was falling upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and the vile cities of the plain were being covered with its bituminous sleet, Zoar was preserved in answer to the prayers of Lot. Look at David; he was a great sinner, and he had brought upon his people a terrible plague, and the destroying angel stood with his drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem; but when David saw the angel, he said to the Lord, “Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done?” So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. Why, if I saw you between the very jaws of hell, so long as they had not actually engulfed you, I would pray for you! God forbid that we should sin against any guilty ones by ceasing to pray for them however desperate their case! My text seems to me to put this matter with astonishing force and power; the evil which God had thought to do was prevented by the intercession of his servant Moses.

IV. I had many more things to say to you, but I must leave them unsaid, and conclude by reminding you, in only a sentence or two, that NOTHING IN THE MEDIATION OF MOSES CAN MATCH OUR GREATER INTERCESSOR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Remember, brethren, that he not only prayed, and willingly offered himself to die for us, but he actually died for us. His name was blotted from the book of the living, he died that we might live. He went not to God saying, “Peradventure, I may make atonement for the guilty;” but he made the atonement; and his pleading for sinners is perpetually prevalent. God is hearing Christ at this moment as he makes intercession for the transgressors, and he is giving him to see of the travail of his soul. This being the case, nothing ought to prevent any sinner from pleading for himself through Jesus Christ. If you think that God means to destroy you, yet go and pray to him, for “The Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” Thus may he deal in mercy with you, for his dear Son’s sake! Amen.

Exposition by C. H. Spurgeon.

EXODUS 32.

Verse 1. And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wet not what is become of him.

What a terrible speech to be made by the people whom God had chosen to be his own! “Make us gods. Make our Creator.” How could that be?

2. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

Poor Aaron! He never had the backbone of his brother Moses. He was a better speaker; but oh, the poverty of his heart! He yields to the will of these idolatrous people, and bows to their wicked behests at once.

3. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

Idolaters spare no expense; there is many a worshipper of a god of wood or mud who gives more to that idol than professing Christians give to the cause of the one living and true God. It is sad that it should be so.

4. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

This was an Egyptian idolatry, the worship of God under the fashion of an ox, the emblem of strength; but God is not to be worshipped under emblems at all. What a poor representation of God any emblem must be!

5. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

They were going to worship Jehovah under the emblem of an ox. This is what you will hear idolaters say; they do not worship the image, they say, but the true God under that image. Yet that is expressly forbidden under the second commandment.

6. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people eat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

Lascivious games were sure to accompany idolatrous worship, for idolatry always leads to filthiness in some form or other, as if it were inevitable.

7. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

How startled Moses must have been when Jehovah said this to him!

8, 9. They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff necked people. Moses perhaps begins to lift his voice in prayer, and God says:-10. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

“I will keep my promise to Abraham by destroying these rebels, and taking thee, his true descendant, and fulfilling the covenant in thee.”

11-13. And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou awarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shalt inherit it for ever.

What a brave prayer this was! Here is a wrestling Moses, true son of wrestling Israel; and he brings his arguments to bear upon Jehovah when he is angry, and he succeeds in turning aside the Lord’s wrath.

14, 15. And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. And Moses turned, and went down from the mount,

An unhappy, broken-hearted man, going from the closest communion with God, down into the midst of a wicked people.

15-17. And the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

Joshua had probably waited lower down, and he met Moses in his descent. He heard with the quick ears of a soldier, and his thoughts went that way.

18, 19. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

This is he who had been praying to God, and saying, “Why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people?” Now he is in deep sympathy with God, and he is himself angry with the idolaters. He cannot help it when he begins to see their sin. Before, he had only thought of the people; but now he looks at their sin. When you see sin, if you are a man of God, your wrath waxes hot, and you get into sympathy with that holy God who cannot be otherwise than indignant at iniquity wherever it may be.

20. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

See the power of this one man who has God at his back, and God in him. While the people are dancing around their idol, he tears it down, grinds it to powder, and says, “You shall drink it every one of you.” Why, there are millions to one; but what cares he about their millions? God is with him, and he is God’s servant; and, therefore, they all tremble before him.

21-24. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my Lord was hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off so they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

That was a lie, for he had made the calf, and shaped it himself. Aaron had not any backbone, nor any principle, he could not he stout-hearted for God. What a poor little man he seems by the side of his great brother! How he shrivels up under the rebuke of Moses!

26. And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)

Moses does not spare Aaron, he lays at his door the guilt of the great sin he had committed: “Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies.

26, 27. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD Clod of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.

This is the man who pleaded for them on the top of the mount. See how he acts in the sight of their sin; by divine authority, he smites them right and left. Possibly, those who were slain were the men who refused to drink the water on which the powder had been sprinkled, or those who continued in rebellion against the Lord.

28-30. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin; and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.

I will be bound to say that this was said after a sleepless night. The people’s sin is now so vividly before him that he begins to feel that God will be just if he punishes them, and does not grant them any forgiveness, so he goes once more up that steep climb to the top of Sinai with a trembling heart, and with only a “peradventure” on his lip.

31, 32. And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin-,

There he broke down, he could not finish that sentence.

32. And if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

“Let me die in their stead!” But God could not accept one man in the stead of another; there is a great Substitute, ordained of old, but he is more than man, and therefore he can stand in the sinner’s stead.

33-36. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee:

nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made. Moses had only half success in pleading for the people; they were not to die as yet, but God declared that he would visit their sin upon them.

7. Achsah’s Asking, A Pattern Of Prayer No. 2312

“And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife. And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. And it came to pass, when she came to him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou? And she said unto him, Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.” Judges 1:12-15

IN domestic life we often meet with pictures of life in the house of God. I am sure that we are allowed to find them there, for our Savior said, “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” God is a Father, and he likens himself to us as fathers; and we who are believers are God’s children; and we are permitted to liken ourselves to our own children; and just as our children would deal with us, and we would deal with them, so may we deal with God, and expect God to deal with us. This little story of a daughter and her father is recorded twice in the Bible. You will find it in the fifteenth chapter of the Book of Joshua, as well as in this first chapter of the Book of Judges. It is not inserted twice without good reasons. I am going to use it tonight simply in this manner — the way in which this woman went to her father, and the way in which her father treated her, may teach us how to go to our Father who is in heaven, and what to expect if we go to him in that fashion.

I would hold up this good woman, Achsah, before you to-night as a kind of model or parable. Our parable shall be Achsah, the daughter of Caleb; she shall be the picture of the true successful pleader with our Father in heaven.

I. And the first thing that I ask you to notice is, HER CONSIDERATION OF THE MATTER before she went to her father.

She was newly-married, and she had an estate to go with her to her husband. She naturally wished that her husband should find in that estate all that was convenient and all that might be profitable, and looking it all over, she saw what was wanted. Before you pray, know what you are needing. That man, who blunders down on his knees, with nothing in his mind, will blunder up again, and get nothing for his pains. When this young woman goes to her father to ask for something, she knows what she is going to ask. She will not open her mouth till first her heart has been filled with knowledge as to what she requires. She saw that the land her father gave her would be of very little use to her husband and herself because it wanted water-springs. So she therefore goes to her father with a very definite request, “Give me also springs of water.”

My dear friends, do you always, before you pray, think of what you are going to ask? “Oh!” says somebody, “I utter some good words.” Does God want your words? Think what you are going to ask before you begin to pray, and then pray like business men. This woman does not say to her father, “Father, listen to me,” and then utter some pretty little oration about nothing; but she knows what she is going to ask for, and why she is going to ask it. She sees her need, and she prizes the boon she is about to request. Oh, take note, ye who are much in prayer, that ye rush not to the holy exercise “as the horse rusheth into the battle”; that ye venture not out upon the sea of prayer without knowing within a little whereabouts will be your port! I do believe that God will make you think of many more things while you are in prayer; the Spirit will help your infirmities, and suggest to you other petitions; but before a word escapes your lips, I counsel you to do what Achsah did, know what you really need.

This good woman, before she went to her father with her petition, asked her husband’s help. When she came to her husband, “she moved him to ask of her father a field.” Now, Othniel was a very bravo man, and very bravo men are generally very bashful men. It is your cowardly man who is often forward and impertinent; but Othniel was so bashful that he did not like asking his uncle Caleb to give him anything more; it looked like grasping. He had received a wife from him, and he had received land from him, and he seemed to say, “No, my good wife, it is all very well for you to put me up to this, but I do not feel like asking for anything more for myself.” Still, learn this lesson, good wives, prompt your husbands to pray with you. Brothers, ask your brothers to pray with you. Sisters, be not satisfied to approach the throne of grace alone; but ask your sister to pray with you. It is often a great help in prayer for two of you to agree touching the thing that concerns Christ’s kingdom. A cordon of praying souls around the throne of grace will be sure to prevail. God help us to be anxious in prayer to get the help of others! A friend, some time ago, said to me, “My dear pastor, whenever I cannot pray for myself, and there are times when I feel shut up about myself, I always take to praying for you: I God bless him, at any rate!’ and I have not long been praying for you before I begin to feel able to pray for myself.” I should like to come in for many of those odd bits of prayer. Whenever any of you got stuck in the mud, do pray for me. It will do you good, and I shall get a blessing. Remember how it is written of Job, “The Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends.” While he prayed for himself, he remained a captive; but when he prayed for those unfriendly friends of his, then the Lord smiled upon him, and loosed his captivity. So it is a good thing in prayer to imitate this woman, Achsah. Know what you want, and then ask others to join with you in prayer. Wife, especially ask your husband; husband, especially ask your wife. I think there is no sweeter praying on earth than the praying of a husband and a wife together when they plead for their children, and when they invoke a blessing upon each other, and upon the work of the Lord.

Next, Achsah bethought herself of this one thing, that she was going to present her request to her father. I suppose that she would not have gone to ask of anybody else; but she said to herself, “Come, Achsah, Caleb is your father. The boon I am going to ask is not of a stranger, who does not know me; but of a father, in whose care I have been ever since I was born.” This thought ought to help us in prayer, and it will help us when we remember that we do not go to ask of an enemy, nor to plead with a stranger; but we say, “Our Father, which art in heaven.” Do you mean it? Do you really believe that God is your Father? Do you feel the spirit of sonship in your heart? If so, this ought to help you to pray with a believing tone. Your Father will give you whatever you need. If there was anything that I wanted, and I should ask it of him, I expect that my dear father, old and feeble as be is, would give it to me if it were within the range of his possibility; and surely, our great and glorious Father, with whom we have lived ever since we were newborn, has favored us so much that we ought to ask very boldly, and with a childlike familiarity, resting assured that our Father will never be vexed with us because we ask these things. Indeed, he knoweth what things we have need of before we ask him.

So this good woman, Achsah, feeling that it was her father of whom she was going to ask, and seeing that her husband hesitated to join her in her request, made the best of her way to go and pray alone. “Well, well, Othniel, I would have liked you to have gone with me; but as you will not, I am going alone.” So she gets upon the ass, which was a familiar way for ladies to ride in that day, and she rides off to her father. The grand old man sees his daughter coming, and by the very look of her he knows that she is coming on business; there is a something about her eye that tells him she is coming with a request. This was not the first time that she had asked something of him. He knew her usual look when she was about to petition him; so he goes to meet her, and she alights from her ass, a token of great and deep respect, just as Rebecca, when she saw Isaac, alighted from the camel. She wished to show how deeply she reverenced that grand man, of whom it was an honor to be a child. Caleb survived Joshua a little while, and still in his old age went out to fight the Canaanites, and conquered Hebron, which the Lord had given him. Achsah pays reverence to her father; but yet she is very hearty in what she is going to say to him. Now, dear friends, learn again from this good woman how to pray. She went humbly, yet eagerly. If others will not pray with you, go alone; and when you go, go very reverently. It is a shameful thing that there should ever be an irreverent prayer. Thou art on earth, and God is in heaven; multiply not thy words as though thou wert talking to thine equal. Do not speak to God as though thou couldst order him about, and have thy will of him, and he were to be a lackey to thee. Bow low before the Most High; own thyself unworthy to approach him, speaking in the tone of one who is pleading for that which must be a gift of great charity. So shalt thou draw near to God aright; but while thou art humble, have desire in thine eyes, and expectation in thy countenance. Pray as one who means to have what he asks. Say not, as one did, “I ask once for what I want; and if I do not get it, I never ask again.” That is unchristian. Plead on if thou knowest that what thou art asking is right. Be like the importunate widow; come again, and again, and again. Be like the prophet’s servant, “Go again seven times.” Thou swilt at last prevail. This good woman had not to use importunity. The very look of her showed that she wanted something; and therefore her father said, “What wilt thou?”

I think that, at the outset of our meditation, we have learnt something that ought to help us in prayer. If you put even this into practice, though no more was said, you might go away blessed thereby. God grant us to know our need, to be anxious to have the help of our fellow-believers; but to remember that, as we go to our Father, even if nobody will go with us, we may go alone, through Jesus Christ our Lord, and plead our case with our Father in heaven!

II. Now, secondly, in this story of Achsah, kindly notice HER ENCOURAGMENT.

Here we have it: “She lighted from off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wilt thou?” “Oh!” says one, I could ask anything if my father said to me, ‘What wilt thou?’ “This is precisely what your great Father does say to you to-night, What wilt thou?” With all the magnanimity of his great heart, God manifests himself to the praying man or pleading woman, and he says, “What wilt thou? What is thy petition, and what is thy request?” What do I gather from that question, “What wilt thou?” Why, this. First, You should know what you want. Could some Christians here, if God were to say to each of them, “What wilt thou?” answer him? Do you not think that we get into such an indistinct, indiscriminate kind of a way of praying that we do not quite know what we do really want? If it is so with you, do not expect to be heard till you know what you want. Get a distinct, definite request realized by your mind as a pressing want; get it right before your mind’s eye as a thing that you must have. That is a blessed preparation for prayer. Caleb said to his daughter, “What wilt thou?” and Christ says to you to-night, “Dear child of mine, what dost thou want of me? Blood-bought daughter, what dost thou want of me?” Will you not, some of you, begin to find up a request or two if you have not one ready on the tip of your tongue? I hope that you have many petitions lying in the contre of your hearts, and that they will not be long in leaping to your lips.

Next, as you ought to know what you want, you are to ask for it. God’s way of giving is through our asking. I suppose that he does that in order that he may give twice over, for a prayer is itself a blessing as well as the answer to prayer. Perhaps it sometimes does us as much good to pray for a blessing as to get the blessing. At any rate, this is God’s way, “Ask, and ye, shall receive.” He puts even his own Son, our blessed Savior, under this rule, for he says even to him, “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” It is a rule, then, without exception, that you are to know what you want, and you are to ask for it. Will you do this, dear friend, while the Lord says to you, “What wilt thou?”

And when Caleb said, “What wilt thou?” did he not as good as say to Achsah, “You shall have what you ask for”? Come, now, to-night is a sweet, fair night for praying in; I do not know a night when it is not so; but to-night is a delightful night for prayer. You shall have what you ask. “All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Desires written in your heart by the Holy Ghost will all of them be fulfilled. Come, then, bethink you of these three things, you must know what you want, you must ask for what you want, and you shall have what you want. Thy Father says to thee, as Caleb said to Achsah, “What wilt thou?” And, once more, it shall be a pleasure to thy Father to hear thee ask. There stands Caleb, that good, brave, grand man, and he says to his daughter, “What wilt thou?” He likes to see her open that mouth that is so dear to him; he loves to listen to the music of her voice. The father delights to hear his child tell him what she wants; and it shall be no displeasure to thy God to hear thee pray to-night. It shall be a joy to him to have thy petition spread before him. Many fathers would quite as soon that their children did not tell them all their wants; in fact, the fewer their wants, the better pleased will their parents be; but our Father in heaven feels a pleasure in giving to us all we need, for giving does not impoverish him, and withholding would not enrich him. He as much delights to give as the sun delights to shine. It is the very element of God to be scattering bounties. Come, then, and pray to him; thou wilt thus please him more than thou wilt please thyself. I wish that I could so speak to-night that every child of God here would say, “The preacher is talking to me. He means that I have to pray, and that God will hear me, and bless me.” Yes, that is precisely what I do mean. Take my advice, and prove it yourself to-night; and see if it be not so, that God takes delight in thy poor, feeble, broken prayer, and grants thy humble petition.

Thus we have seen Achsah’s consideration before prayer, and her encouragement to pray.

III. Now comes HER PRAYER itself.

As soon as she found that she had an audience with her father of the kindliest sort, she said to him, Give me a blessing.” I like that petition; it is a good beginning, Give me a blessing.” I should like to put that prayer into every believing mouth here to-night, “Give me a blessing. Whatever thou dost not give me, give me a blessing. Whatever else thou givest me, do not fail to give me a blessing.” A father’s blessing is an inheritance to a loving child.

“Give me a blessing.” What is the blessing of God? If he shall say, “Thou art blessed,” thou mayest defy the devil to make thee cursed. If the Lord calls thee blessed, thou art blessed. Though covered with boils, as Job was, thou art blessed. Though near to death, like Lazarus, with the dogs licking his sores, thou art blessed. If thou shouldst be dying, like Stephen, beneath the stones of murderous enemies, if God bless thee, what more canst thou wish for? Nay, Lord, put me anywhere that thou wilt, as long as I get thy blessing. Deny me what thou wilt, only give me thy blessing. I am rich in poverty, if thou dost bless me. So Achsah said to her father, “Give me a blessing.” I wish that prayer might be prayed by everybody here to-night. Printers here to-night, pray for once, if you have not prayed before, “Lord, give me a blessing.” Soldiers, pray your gracious God to give you a blessing. Young men and maidens, old men and fathers, take this prayer of Achsah’s upon your hearts to-night, “Give me a blessing.” Why, if the Lord shall hear that prayer from everybody in this place, what a blessed company we shall be; and we shall go our way to be a blessing to this City of London beyond what we have ever been before!

Notice next, in Achsah’s prayer, how she mingled gratitude with her petition: “Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land.” We like, when people ask anything of us, to hear them say, “You did help me, you know, sir, a month ago;” but if they seem to come to you, and quite forget that you ever helped them, and never thank you, never say a word about it, but come begging again and again, you say to yourself, “Why, I helped that fellow a month ago! He never says a word about that.” “Have I not seen you before?” “No, sir I do not know that you ever have.” “Ah!” you say to yourself, he will get no more out of me. He is not grateful for what he has had.” I do believe that ingratitude seals up the springs of blessing. When we do not praise God for what we have received from him, it seems to me but just that he should say, “I am not going to cast my pearls before swine. I shall not give my precious things to those who set no value upon them.” When thou art praying, take to praising also; thou wilt gather strength thereby. When a man has to take a long jump, you have seen him go back a good distance, and then run forward to get a spring. Go back in grateful praise to God for what he has done for thee in days gone by, and then got a spring for thy leap for a future blessing, or a present blessing. Mingle gratitude with all thy prayers.

There was not only gratitude in this woman’s prayer, but she used former gifts as a plea for more: “Thou hast given me a south land; give me also.” Oh, yes, that is grand argument with God: “Thou hast given me; therefore, give me some more.” You cannot always use this argument with men, for if you remind them that they have given you so much, they say, “Well, now, I think that somebody else must have a turn. Could you not go next door?” It is never so with God. There is no argument with him like this, “Lord, thou hast clone this to me; thou art always the same; thine all-sufficiency is not abated; therefore, do again what thou hast done!” Make every gift that God gives thee a plea for another gift; and when thou hast that other gift, make it a plea for another gift: he loves you to do this. Every blessing given contains the eggs of other blessings within it. Thou must take the blessing, and find the hidden eggs, and lot them be hatched by thine earnestness, and there shall be a whole brood of blessings springing out of a single blessing. See thou to that.

But this good woman used this plea in a particular way: she said, “Thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water.” This was as much as to say, “Though thou hast given me the south land, and I thank thee for it, it is no good to me unless I have water for it. It is a very hot bit of ground, this south land; it wants irrigating. My husband and I cannot get a living from it unless thou give us springs of water.” Do you see the way you are to pray?

“Lord, thou hast given me so much, and it will all be good for nothing if thou dost not give me more. If thou dost not finish, it is a pity that thou didst ever begin; thou hast given me very many mercies, but if I do not have many more, all thy generosity will be lost. Thou dost not begin to build unless thou meanest to finish; and so I come to thee to say, ‘Thou hast given me a south laud, but it is dry; give me also springs of water to make it of real value to me.’“ In this prayer of Aclisah’s there is a particularity and a speciality: “Give me also springs of water.” She knew what she was praying for; and that is the way to pray. When you ask of God, ask distinctly: “Give me springs of water.” You may say, “Give me my daily bread.” You may cry, “Give me a sense of pardoned sin.” You may distinctly ask for anything which God has promised to give; but mind that, like this woman, you are distinct and plain in what you ask of God: “Give me springs of water.”

Now, it seems to me, to-night, as if I could pray that prayer, “Give me springs of water.” “Lord, thou bast given me a south land, all this congregation, Sunday after Sunday, all this multitude of people; but, Lord, how can I preach to them if thou dost not give me springs of water? ‘All my fresh springs are in thee.’ What is the use of the hearers if there be not the power of the Holy Spirit going with the Word to bless them? Give me springs of water.” Now, I can suppose a Sunday-school teacher here to-night saying, “Lord, I thank thee for my interesting class, and for the attention that the scholars pay to what I say to them; but, Lord, what is the good of my children to me unless thou give me springs of water? Oh, that, out of myself, out of my very soul, might flow rivers of living water for my dear scholars, and that I might have the power of thy Holy Spirit with all my teaching! Give me springs of water.” I can imagine a Christian parent here saying, “Lord, I thank thee for my wife and my children; I thank thee that thou hast given me servants over whom I have influence; I thank thee for all these; but what is the use of my being the head of a family unless thou give me springs of grace that, like David, I may bless my household, and see my children grow up in thy fear? Give me springs of water.” The point of this petition is this, “O Lord, what thou hast given me is of little good to me unless thou give me something more.” O dear hearers, if God has given you money, pray that he will give you grace to use it aright; or else, if you hoard it up or spend it, it may, in either case, prove a curse to you! Pray, “Give me springs of water; give me grace to use my wealth aright.” Some here have many talents. Riches in the brain are among the best of riches. Be thankful to God for your talents; but cry, “Lord, give me of thy grace, that I may use my talents for thy glory. Give me springs of water, or else my talents shall be a dry and thirsty land, yielding no fruit unto thee. Give me springs of water.” You see, the prayer is not merely for water; but for springs of water. “Give me a perpetual, eternal, ever-flowing fountain. Give me grace that shall never fail; but shall flow, and flow on, and flow for ever. Give me a constant supply: “Give me springs of water.” This woman’s prayer, then, I have thus tried to commend to you. Oh, that we might all have grace to copy her!

IV. Now, lastly, see HER SUCCESS.

Upon this I will not detain you more than a minute or two. “Caleb gave her the upper springs and the nether springs.” Observe, her father gave her what she asked. She asked for springs, and he gave her springs. “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?” God gives us what we ask for when it is wise to do so. Sometimes we make mistakes, and ask for the wrong thing; and then he is kind enough to put the pen through the petition, and write another word into the prayer, and answer the amended prayer rather than the first foolish edition of it. Caleb gave Achsah what she asked.

Next, he gave her in large measure. She asked for springs of water, and he gave her the upper springs and the nether springs. The Lord “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask, or think.” Some use that passage in prayer, and misquote it, “above what we can ask or even think.” That is not in the Bible, because you can ask or even think anything you like; but it is “above all that we ask, or think.” Our asking or our thinking falls short; but God’s giving never does.

And her father gave her this without a word of upbraiding. He did not say, Ah, you Achsab, you are always begging of me!” He did not say, Now that I have given you to your husband, it is too bad of him to let you come and ask for more from me, when I have given you plenty already.” There are some gruff old fathers who would speak like that to their daughters, and say, “No, no, no! Come, come, I cannot stand this; you have a good

portion already, my girl, and I have others to think of as well as you.” No, Caleb gave her the upper and the nether springs, and never said a word by way of blaming her; but I will be bound to say that he smiled on her, as he said, “Take the upper and the nether springs, and may you and your husband enjoy the whole! You have only asked, after all, what my heart delights to give you.” Now, may the Lord grant unto us to-night to ask of him in wisdom, and may he not have to upbraid us, but give us all manner of blessings both of the upper and the nether springs, both of heaven and earth, both of eternity and time, and give them freely, and not say even a single word by way of upbraiding us!

I have done with this last point when I have asked a plain question or two. Why is it that, to-night, some of you dear friends have a very parched-up inheritance? The grass will not grow, and the corn will not grow, nothing good seems to grow. You have been ploughing, and turning the plot up, and sowing, and weeding, and yet nothing comes of it. You are a believer, and you have an inheritance; but you are not very much given to song, not very cheery, not very happy; and you are sitting here to-night, and singing, to the tune Job, —

“Lord, what a wretched land is this,That yields us no supply!”

Well, why is that? There is no need for it. Your heavenly Father does not want you to be in that miserable condition. There is something to be had that would lift you out of that state, and change your tone altogether. May every child of God here go to his Father, just like Achsah went to Caleb! Pour out your heart before the Lord, with all the simple ease and naturalness of a trustful, loving child.

Do you say, “Oh, I could not do that”? Then I shall have to ask you this question, “Are we truly the children of God if we never feel towards him any of that holy boldness?” Do you not think that every child must feel a measure of that confidence towards his father? If there is a son in the world who says, “No, I-I-I really could not speak to my father,” well, I shall not make any enquiries, but I know that there is something wrong up at his home, there is something not right either with the father or with the boy. Wherever there is a loving home, you never hear the son or daughter say, “You know, I-I-I could not ask my father.” I hope that we have none of us got into that condition with regard to our earthly fathers; let none of us be in that condition with regard to our heavenly Father.

“My soul, ask what thou wilt,Thou canst not be too bold;Since his own blood for thee he spiltWhat else can he withhold?”

Come, then, while in the pew to-night, before we gather at the communion-table, and present thy petition with a childlike confidence, and expect it to be heard, and expect to-night to have fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

And you, poor sinners, who cannot pray like children, what are you to do? Well, you remember how the Savior said to the Syrophenician woman, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.” But she answered, “Yes, Lord; yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.” You come in for the crumbs to-night; for if a man is satisfied to eat crumbs with the dogs, God will not be satisfied till he makes him eat bread with the children. If thou wilt take the lowest place, God will give thee a higher place before long. Come thou to Jesus, and trust in him henceforth and for ever. Amen.

Exposition by C. H. Spurgeon.

MATTHEW 7.

Verse 1. Judge not, that ye be not judged.

You are not called to judge; you are not qualified to judge: “God is the Judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.” There is much better work to be done by us than that of setting up as judges of others.

2. For with what Judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Do not judge the whole character of a man by one single action; do not attempt to judge his motives; you cannot read his heart; you are not omniscient; you are not infallible. You will very soon find other people judging you; and when, one of these days, you shall be falsely judged and condemned, you will not need to have any surprise if you have done the same thing yourself; it will be only your corn measured back to you with the bushel you used in measuring other people’s.

3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

There is something in yourself that is worthy of your consideration, something that you ought to consider, it big, blinding beam in your own eye. As for the mote that is in your brother’s eye, there is no need that you should even see it. Why beholdest thou it? Charity is ever a little blind to the faults of others, for it remembers so well its own.

4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

A blind man cannot be a good oculist; he should see well who tries to mend other people’s eyes; but with a beam in one’s own eye, it must be poor work to attempt to take motes out of the eyes of others. This does not prevent our using reproof and rebuke when they are needed. Even under the Law, the command was given, “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him,” as if it were a kind of hatred to avoid the duty of kindly and gentle rebuke. That is a very different thing from exposing the faults of others, and aggravating and exaggerating the faults of others, as, alas, so many do! Oh, how much misery might be saved in the world if the scandal-market were not so brisk! Perhaps tongues would not move so fast if eyes were used to a better purpose.

5, 6. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

There are some holy enjoyments, some gracious experiences, some deep doctrines of the Word of God, which it would be out of place to speak of before certain profane and unclean persons. They would only make a jest of them; perhaps they might persecute you on account of them. No; holy things are for holy men; and as of old the crier in the Grecian temple was wont to say, before the mysteries were performed, “Far hence, ye profane!” so sometimes, before we enter into the innermost circle of Christian converse, it would be well for us to notice who is listening.

7, 8. Ask, and it shall he given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth;

This is the rule of God’s kingdom invariably, whenever the request is a right one, and is presented in a right manner.

8-11. And he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son, ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?

The point is, not only that God gives, but that he knows how to give. If he were always to give according to our prayers, it might be very injurious to us. He might give us that with which we could do hurt, as when a father should put a stone into a boy’s hand; or he might give us that which might do us hurt, as if a father were to give his child a serpent. He will do neither of these things; but be will answer us in discretion, and with prudence will he fulfill our desires. You know how to give to your children; bow much more shall your infinitely-wise Father, who from heaven sees all the surroundings of men, give good things to them that ask him?

12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men, should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

“The law and the prophets” are here condensed into a single sentence. This is the golden rule, a handy rule, a perpetually-applicable rule, useful in every condition, and it never makes a mistake.

13, 14. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto lift, and Jew there be that find it.

It is a way of self-denial, it is a way of humility, it is a way which is distasteful to the natural pride of men; it is a precise way, it is a holy way, a strait way, and therefore men do not care for it. They are too big, too proud, to go along a narrow lane to heaven; yet this is the right way. There are many broad ways, as Banyan says, that abut upon it; but you may know them by their being broad, and you may know them by their being crowded. The Christian man has to swim against the current; he has to do more than that, he has to go against himself, so strait is the road; but if you wish to go down to perdition, you have only to float with the stream, and you can have any quantity of company that you like.

15. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing,

Dressed like Elijah.

15. But inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Very Ahabs and Jezebels; and they will deceive you, if you are not divinely guarded against them.

16. Ye shall know them —

How? By their eloquence? No. Some of the worst of teachers have bad great persuasiveness. You shall know them by their earnestness? No. Some have compassed sea and land to make proselytes to a lie. You shall know them how, then?

16. By their fruits.

If their teaching makes you better, if it makes you love God, if it draws you to holiness, if it inspires you with noble and heroic sentiments, so that you imitate Christ, then listen to them.

16-20. Do men, gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth, forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

After all, this is the best test of any doctrine, the practice to which it leads. I remember one day discussing with a person about the doctrine of future punishment. We were arguing, and the gentleman, who owned the vessel on which we were, said, “Come up on deck, and enjoy the fresh air, and leave that subject; but,” he said, “you, sir, will kindly go as far as possible from my men, for they are bad enough as they are, and if you tell them there is no punishment for sin, they will be worse than ever. As for you, Mr. Spurgeon, you may go where you like, you won’t do them any harm.” I thought that rough and ready mode of argument was about as good a commendation as I could wish to have.

21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the quill of my Father which is in heaven.

Not talking, but doing, not loud profession, but quiet, practical godliness, wins the day.

22, 23. Many will say to me in that flay, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew yon: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

If Christ does not know us, it matters not what we do. Even if we work miracles, if we astound the world with our abilities, it is all nothing if Christ does not know us. Now, I think there are many here who can humbly but confidently say, “He knows me.” He knows some of us, if by nothing else, by our constantly begging of him. We have been at him day and night in our necessities, pleading for his bounty, his mercy, his company; and he cannot say he does not know us. He knows a great deal about us, even through our prayers, if by no other way.

24. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

What a mercy there is a rock to build on! We could not have made one; but there is the rock.

25. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,

For the best man will have his troubles.

25. And beat upon that house;

For the best man will feel the troubles; they will come home to him.

25-27. And it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth, them not, shall be likened unto a foolish, man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended,

For the worst of men will have their troubles. There is no escaping the trials of life by sin.

27. And the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

There was no building it again; it was altogether gone, swept right away, no vestige of it remained.

28, 29. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

He touched their conscience; his teaching came home to them; they could not help feeling that it was true. Besides, he did not keep on quoting Rabbi This and Rabbi That, but he spoke from his own knowledge: “He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

8. The Child Samuel’s Prayer No. 586

By The Rev. C. H. Spurgeon,At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington

“Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.”1 Samuel 3:9

IN the days of Eli the word of the Lord was precious, and there was no open vision. It was well when the word did come, that one chosen individual had the hearing ear to receive it, and the obedient heart to perform it. Eli failed to tutor his sons to be the willing servants and the attentive hearers of the Lord’s word. In this he was without the excuse of inability, since he successfully trained the child Samuel in reverent attention to the divine will. O that those who are diligent about the souls of others, would look well to their own households. Alas, poor Eli, like many in our day, they made thee keeper of the vineyards, but thine own vineyard thou hast not kept. As often as he looked upon the gracious child, Samuel, he must have felt the heartache. When he remembered his own neglected and unchastened sons, and how they had made themselves vile before all Israel, Samuel was the living witness of what grace can work where children are trained up in God’s fear, and Hophni and Phineas were sad specimens of what parental indulgence will produce in the children of the best of men. Ah, Eli, if thou hadst been as careful with thine own sons as with the son of Hannah, they had not been such men of Belial, nor would Israel have abhorred the offering of the Lord because of the fornication which those priestly reprobates committed at the very door of the tabernacle. O for grace so to nurse our little ones for the Lord, that they may hear the Lord when he shall be pleased to speak unto them.

Let us proceed at once to consider our short but very suggestive text in four aspects, and I pray that the Holy Spirit may speak to us through the word. We shall meditate upon this Scripture, first, as the prayer of a little child; secondly, as the cry of an anxious soul; thirdly, as the prayer of an earnest believer; and fourthly, as the spirit of a dying saint.

I. First of all we shall take our text AS THE PRAYER OF A LITTLE CHILD. Samuel was blessed with a gracious father, and what is of even more importance, he was the child of an eminently holy mother. Hannah was a woman of great poetic talent, as appears from her memorable song- “My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord; my month is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoiced in thy salvation.” The soul of poetry lives in every line; a brave but chastened spirit breathes in every sentence; even the Virgin Mary, the most blessed among women, could do no other than use expressions of a similar import. Better still, Hannah was a woman of great prayer. She had been a woman of a sorrowful spirit, but her prayers at last returned to her in blessing, and she had this son given her of the Lord. He was very dear to his mother’s heart, and she, therefore, to show her gratitude, and in fulfillment of the vow which in her anguish she had vowed unto the Lord, would consecrate the best thing she had, and presented her son before the Lord in Shiloh-a lesson to all godly parents to see to it, that they dedicate their children unto God. How highly favored shall we be if our children shall all be like Isaac-children of the promise! What blessed parents should we be if we saw our children all rise up to call the Redeemer blessed. It has been the lot of some of you to see all your children numbered with the people of God: all your jewels are now in Jehovah’s casket. In their early childhood you gave them up to God, and dedicated them to him in earnest prayer, and now the Lord has given you your petition which you asked of him. I like our friends to hold little services in their own houses when their family is increased; it seems good and profitable for friends to assemble, and prayer to be offered that the child may be an inheritor of the promises, that he may be early called by mighty grace, and received into the divine family. You will perceive, dear friends, that as Samuel was put under the care and tuition of Eli, Eli had instructed him in some degree in the spirit of religion, but he does not appear to have explained to him the peculiar form and nature of those special and particular manifestations of God which were given to his prophets; little dreaming, I dare say, that Samuel would ever be him. self the subject of them. On that memorable night, when towards morning the lamp of God was about to go out, the Lord cried, “Samuel, Samuel,” the young child was not able to discern-for he had not been taught-that it was the voice of God, and not the voice of man. That he bad learned the spirit of true religion, is indicated by his instantaneous obedience, and the habit of obedience became a valuable guide to him in the perplexities of that eventful hour. He runs to Eli, and says, “Here am I, for thou didst call me;” and though this is three times repeated, yet he seems nothing loath to leave his warm bed, and run to his foster-father, to see if he could get him any comfort that his old age might require during the night, or otherwise do his bidding- a sure sign that the child had acquired the healthy principle of obedience though he did not understand the mystery of the prophetic call. Better far to have the young heart trained to bear the yoke than to fill the childish head with knowledge, however valuable. An ounce of obedience is better than a ton of learning.

When Eli perceived that God had called the child, he taught him his first little prayer. It is a very short one, but it is a very full one- “ Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” Many questions have been raised, as to whether children ought to be taught a form of prayer. As far as I can judge I think not, for I do not think that forms of prayer, although they may be allowed, and God may accept them, are ever of very great advantage to those who use them. Forms of prayer are something like the stilts of a cripple; if a man begins with them, it is very probable that he will never be able to do without them. They resemble the copious notes and manuscripts of certain ministers, who began with them, and are quite unable now to preach without them. Children who are taught a form of prayer, may perhaps by divine grace be enabled to use the form in all sincerity of heart: I hope they may; but I think they are more likely to understand the things of God, if instead of teaching them the form, you explain to them the meaning and the value of prayer. I take this to be the best plan. Let the Christian parent explain to the child what prayer is; tell him that God answers prayer; direct him to the Savior, and then urge him to express his desires in his own language, both when he rises, and when he goes to rest. Gather the little ones around your knee and listen to their words, suggesting to them their needs, and reminding them of God’s gracious promise. You will be amazed, and, I may add, sometimes amused too; but you will be frequently surprised at the expressions they will use, the confessions they will make, the desires they will utter; and I am certain that any Christian person standing within ear-shot, and listening to the simple prayer of a little child earnestly asking God for what it thinks it wants, would never afterwards wish to teach a child a form, but would say, that as a matter of education to the heart the extemporaneous utterance was infinitely superior to the best form, and that the form should be given up for ever. However, do not let me speak too sweepingly. If you must teach your child to say a form of prayer, at least take care that you do not teach him to say anything which is not true. If you teach your children a catechism. mind that it is thoroughly scriptural, or you may train them up to tell falsehoods. Do not call the child up, and command him to say, “in my baptism, wherein I was made a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of heaven.” If you want to educate him for the gallows, teach him to utter untruths about sacred things; if you would make him an habitual deceiver, teach him the Church Catechism, and make him to say, “God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the elect people of God,” when he is altogether unsanctified, and has no evidence of being elected. I pray you, if you would have an honest son, do not teach him to say that he thanks his heavenly Father, “who hath brought him into this state of salvation,” when he knows, and you know, that he is not saved at all. Teach him nothing but the truth as it is in Jesus so far as he can learn it, and pray the Holy Spirit to write that truth upon his heart. Better to supply no sign-posts to the young traveler than to mislead him with false ones. The light of a wrecker’s beacon is worse than darkness. Teach our youth to make untruthful statements in religions matters, and Atheism can scarcely do more to corrupt their minds. Formal religion is a deadly foe to vital godliness. If you teach a catechism, or it you teach a form of prayer to your little ones, let it be all true; and, as far as possible never put into a child’s mouth a word which the child cannot truly say from his heart. Dear friends, we must be more careful about truthfulness and correctness in speech. If a child looked out of a window at anything going on in the street, and then told you that he saw it from the door, you ought to make him tell the tale over again, so as to impress upon him the necessity of being truthful in every respect.

Especially in things connected with religion, keep your child back from any form until he has a right to be a partaker of it. Never encourage him to come to the Lord’s Table unless you really believe that there is a work of grace in his heart; for why should you lead him to eat and drink his own damnation. Insist with all your heart that religion is a solemn reality not to be mimicked or pretended to, and seek to bring the child to understand that there is no vice more abhorrent before God than hypocrisy. Do not make your young Samuel a young hypocrite, but train up your darling to speak before the Lord with a deep solemnity and a conscientious truthfulness, arid let him never to dare to say, either in answer to a catechismal question, or as a form of prayer, anything which is not positively true. If you must have a form of prayer, let it not express such desires as a child never had, but let it be adapted to his young capacity. At the same time, I would again say, that it would he infinitely better to leave the child alone as to the words, having earnestly inculcated upon him the spirit of prayer. Beloved, when we see any trace of good in our youth, then, like Eli, we should be the more earnest to have them trained up in the faith. Let the child learn the Assembly’s Catechism, even though lie does not understand all that is in it; and as soon as the young heart can comprehend the things of Jesus, labor in power of the Holy Spirit to bring it to a simple dependance upon the great sacrifice. It is said of the Revelation John Angell James, “Like most men who have been eminent and honored in the Church of Christ, he had a godly mother, who was wont to take her children to her chamber, and with each separately to pray for the salvation of their souls. This exercise, which fulfilled her own responsibility, was moulding the character of her children, and most, if not all of them, rose up to call her blessed. When did such means ever fail?” I beseech you, the teachers of the Sunday-school-though I scarcely need to do so, for I know how zealous you are in this matter- as soon as ever you see the first peep of day in your children, encourage their young desires. Believe in the conversion of children, as children; believe that the Lord can call them by his grace, can renew their hearts, can give them a part and a lot among his people long before they reach the prime of life. Oh! that the Lord may give us to see many Samuels added to this Church, as we have seen them in days gone by. You that are little ones, when the Lord speaks to you, cry to him, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth;” and when in the class, or here in the Tabernacle, the Word of God is preached to sinners, remember it is preached to you quite as much as to the men who are six feet high; and do lift up your little hearts to God with the desire that while we are preaching God would speak to you. Do, dear children, expect the Lord to meet with you. Boys and girls have been saved.

“Many dear children are gathering there,For of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

We have baptized many like you, at twelve, thirteen, and fourteen years of age, who have made a very clear profession of their faith; and rejoiced indeed shall we be if we see you. boys and girls coming forward and saying, “God has called us, has brought us to put our trust in Jesus; and here we are.” Young Samuel, the Lord calls you; and thou art a privileged one to be called so soon, for early grace frequently becomes eminent grace; and those who begin early with God, are often preserved in this world to be of distinguished service in the courts of the Lord’s house. May that be your lot and mine!

II. We have perhaps spoken enough upon this point, let us now consider the words as THE CRY OF AN ANXIOUS SOUL. What an overwhelming sight is this vast crowd of immortal souls! What a joy would it be to me if I could hope that you were all anxious to find the Savior. Many of you who assemble constantly within these walls, though you have had serious impressions, are not yet saved. As you came in to-night this thought may have been uppermost- “Oh, that Cod would meet with my soul to-night.” Some of you young woman have been in my sister’s, Mrs. Bartlett’s class, this afternoon, and it is very hard to be in that class long without receiving solemn impressions. God has been visiting your class just lately; he has removed a heavenly-minded and well-beloved sister; he has carried her aloft to the upper and better world. She could die singing and rejoicing in her Savior, for her usual frame of mind was set forth in these words, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” Well, dear friends, this bereaving providence has had a loud voice to your class, God has wrought a solemn impression upon your mind by it, and you prayed as you entered the Tabernacle, “O God, save my soul this night!” Let me recommend you the use of this simple prayer now while you are sitting in the pew, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” “Speak, Lord!” pray that first. “Speak, Lord!” While the minister is speaking, Lord do thou speak. I have heard the minister’s voice, and sometimes it awakens me, but I am not saved, and I never shall be, Lord, if the minister speaks alone. Speak, Lord! My mother has talked with me; my earnest teacher has sought to lead me to the Savior; but I know that the words of blessed men and women will fall to the ground if they come alone. Speak, Lord! Thy voice said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. Speak, Lord! and make light in my bedarkened mind! Thy voice called Lazarus from the grave, though he had been dead four days. Speak, Lord! and make me live. Oh, let it be to-night a real work of grace in my soul! Let divine power come and operate upon me.” My dear friend, cannot you follow me in such petitions as these? You know my soul is going up for you, and I am crying to God, “Speak, Lord!” and there are others here that you know of, and who are dear to you, who are even now in earnest wrestling with the angel of mercy, and they are saying, “Speak, Lord!” Oh! what would your father give if he should hear that God had spoken to your soul? How would your mother leap for joy if she did but know that God had come to deal with you in away of saving grace! “Speak, Lord!” let that be your prayer. Then put it next, Speak, Lord, to me? For if the Lord speak in a sermon, it may be to another, and then woe is me that I should be denied the priceless boon. I may be lying by Bethesda’s pool, but another man may step in before me, and I may miss the mercy. Speak, Lord, to me, even to me. Say unto my soul, “I am thy salvation.” May there be an unmistakable message to my heart. Thou hast taken away one that I knew. It is a marvel that then thou bast not taken me away. It is a wonder that I am spared- such a rebel as I have been. O how great is thy patience, that thou hast not dashed me in pieces, and cast inc into hell! Lord, thou hast dealt graciously with me in sparing my life. Speak to me, Lord. If there be other souls in a like case with me, do thou deal graciously with them, but oh! do chiefly so with me, for if there be one heart that wants thee more than another I am that one. If there be one less likely than another to be saved-one who would give thee more praise than another if saved, I am that one. Lord speak to me I” Dear young friend, you need not go home to pray that prayer. While you are sitting there, I pray God the Holy Ghost to lead you to offer it in silence-“ Lord, speak to me.” Personal possession of an interest in Christ Jesus is a blessing to be sought for with strong crying and tears: be not silent till the God of heaven shall grant it to you.

I will add another word to the prayer which I commend to you: it shall be the word of time. “Lord, speak to me now.” How old ar you? Perhaps you are young. Oh! but how well it is to let the Savior have the bud of our being-to consecrate to him the early morning of life! Blessed is the day of life when it begins with clear shining, and opens with a morning without clouds. “Lord, I am young, but not too young to die. Speak to me now!” But are there not some of you who are past your one-and-twenty, and are beginning to run into the ways of sin? It may be your feet have slipped. Have you wandered into evil? Are you living in the daily practice of outward vice? You know you have left the right path some of you, and the pangs of conscience are upon you just now. Pray: “Lord, let me have had the last of my sins; let me have done with them now. Sever, once for all, the bonds between me and Satan, and bind me to thine altar fast to-night!” Perhaps you have passed even the prime of life. It may be that your hairs are turning grey. An old sinner is an old fool. He who is out of Christ at sixty or seventy is devoid of understanding. The young may die, but the old must. To be careless in youth is to sleep in a siege; but to be worldly in old age is to sleep in an attack, when already the scaling ladders are at the walls. Take heed, ye who wear grey hairs, for if they be not crowns of glory to you, they will prove to be fools’ caps. Woe unto you who have spent your threescore years and ten, and are yet the enemies of-God! What will ye do when he comes to require of you that which is past? O, what will ye do in the day when lie shall deal out to you who have followed the flesh, the corruption thereof? O, what will you do when the heavens are in a blaze, and the trumpet rings, and the dead awaken, and you are judged? I put this question to you in deep solemnity this night; and do, I pray you, ere you leave these walls, send up the cry, “Speak, Lord to me, and speak to me now!”

But can you say, like Samuel,” Thy servant heareth?” Truly, I am afraid many of you cannot, for you do not hear God’s word with your hearts. Mine eye runneth down with grief when I think of some of you who listen to my voice year after year, and yet do not hear. You hear me, but you do not hear my Master. Alas! how many have been the arrows out of God’s bow which I have shot at you? Have they not been wasted? They have rattled upon your armor, but they have not pierced your hearts. I have run in vain, I have labored in vain for you. I have beaten the air so far as you are concerned. You would not hear. I can say solemnly I have sometimes stood in this pulpit, and have labored with your souls to the best of my power, and I have felt that I would have cheerfully resigned all I had on earth if I might but have brought you to Christ. If you, my hearers, who sit here constantly, might but be partakers of eternal life, I will leave my Master to do what he wills with me. Shame, contempt, obloquy-these shall be our joy and our crown for our faithfulness to God and your souls; but, oh! I must have you saved; I must have you lay hold on eternal life; I must see you look to Jesus; and my prayer is that you may this night look to a Savior crucified! Can you say, “Thy servant heareth?” “Yes,” says one, “I can; if now the Lord would say a word in mercy to me I would gladly hear it.” Then he will speak to thee, poor soul, ere long. If thou wilt hear it he will say it, for he never did give a hearing ear to any heart without intending to speak to it. I know how you want him to speak: you want him to speak with conviction. You want the broken and the contrite heart such as he will not despise. Well, ask for it-say, “Speak, Lord, with thy convincing voice, for I am ready to hear.” But you want him to speak with a converting voice; you desire to be turned from your evil ways, and to follow the Lord. Cry to him then, “Speak, Lord, with the voice that turns men, and turn me now from darkness to light.” Or it may be that you want a comforting word. Well, then, pray for it- “ Speak, Lord, with thy voice of comfort: bind up my bleeding wounds, and let my soul rejoice in thee.” Yet, truly, I do not know that he will speak anything more to you than this-“ Look to Christ, and live.” He will speak with power, but that is the substance of it. Jesus is the sum of mercy’s message. He is the word of God. Do not expect to have any other gospel from God’s lips than that which is revealed in God’s word. The gospel of God’s word is, “Believe, and live.” There is life in a look at the crucified One; there is life at this moment for thee. If thou wilt not hear the voice of God when he saith to thee, “Trust Christ,” remember he hath no other glad tidings. Effectual calling may speak this same thing more effectually, but the Holy Spirit never reveals any other gospel. There is no other way to heaven but just this- “ Trust thy soul to Christ; thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou art saved.”

I am loath to leave this point, because my heart is panting to know and to feel some inward emotion, which might make me feel confident that some of you had breathed this prayer. O may the good Master who alone can drive these nails home, use the gospel hammer now! I do conjure you, by the shortness of life, by the certainty of death, by the glories of heaven, by the terrors of hell, seek the Lord, and let this be now the voice of your seeking, “Speak, Lord; speak to me; speak now; for thy servant heareth.”

III. We will turn to the third view of the text as the PRAYER OF AN EARNEST BELIEVER. I was led to select this text, by finding it in the letter of one who has just been taken away from our classes, and from our Church. She was about to change her position in life in some degree, and the one prayer that seemed to be ever upon her mind, was a prayer for guidance, and she prayed, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” She said she felt that God was about to do something for her, but she did not know what it was; she little dreamed that she was so near the kingdom and the glory, but yet that was the prayer, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” This is a very appropriate prayer for the Christian when he is in providential difficulty. You may not know what you ought to do to-morrow; of two courses open to you, there may appear certain advantages connected with each, and some friends have urged you to one plan, and other friends have urged you to the other. Now if you have used your best judgment, and have endeavored to direct your steps according to the Word of God, you may expect in answer to prayer, to have a distinct guidance from God — not perhaps from the month of man, though that sometimes happens, for even from this pulpit cases which we never heard of have been unravelled, and dilemmas with which the preacher was never acquainted have notwithstanding been solved by what seemed but a stray word, but what was meant by God to be a finger, pointing out to his children- “ This is the way, walk ye in it.” Take your difficulty to the God of wisdom; spread it out before him, and having divested yourself of your own will in the matter, having solemnly desired to know the will of God, and not your own wish, then you may expect by some means or other-and God has different ways of doing it-to have an answer from the Most High. Take you this as your prayer, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” We want in our daily life more fully to acknowledge God in all our ways. We are, I am afraid, in this age, in great danger of forgetting God. We ought to acknowledge him in the common transactions of the day, or else like the Israelites with the Gibeonites, we may be betrayed in the simplest transaction, and deceived to our lasting injury. Take thy matters before the God of Abraham, and the Urim and Thummin shall yet speak to thee. Domino Dirige nos, “Lord direct us,” is a good motto, not only for the City of London, but for the citizens of heaven. In points of doctrine this desire humbly uttered may bring us much light. God’s Word is not all of it alike plain; sometimes when you have heard conflicting views — this preacher earnestly declaring a doctrine, and another denouncing it-you may be somewhat nonplussed. My advice to you is, take your difficulty before God in prayer, and say, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” Do not ask God to confirm your opinion, but ask him to make your opinion conformable with his truth. Do not go to God’s Word to find texts to support your tenets, but go to Scripture for texts and tenets too. Remember that to a true Christian no doctrine has any force upon the conscience, except as it comes with “thus saith the Lord.” Follow the simple Word of God as you find it, and rest assured you shall have the light of the Holy Spirit streaming upon the sacred page, and as you read it you shall hear the Master say, “This is my Word.” He shall make it come to your soul with such power, that you shall have no doubt about it if your heart cries, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.”

The same course should be adopted by every Christian in matters of practice. I am afraid there are many Christians who have stopped their ears up, that they may not hear the teaching of portions of the Word. There are certain Scriptures which they can never abide. I have heard of one who never would read the eighth or ninth chapter of Romans at family prayer. I have heard of another who invariably omitted that chapter in the Acts, about the Ethiopian eunuch-a very awkward chapter, 1 confess, for any one to read who has not accepted believer’s baptism. You will find many professed Christians in these day’s who do not like to meddle with certain questions, because they are more than half afraid that a little examination would prove them to be in the wrong. They cannot bear us to put a finger upon their Prayer Book, their creed, or their Church, for they know that they will not bear a close inspection. They will say, “Well, there are faults everywhere, let well alone;” the fact being that they do not care what truth is, so long as they can be comfortable and go with the fashion of the day. Some whom we fain hope to be true Christians think truth unimportant, and are not prepared to “search the Scriptures whether these things be so or not.” Brethren, I should be afraid of my own doctrine, if I dare not test it both by Scripture and sound argument. If my foundation would not stand a good shaking, I should be afraid that it was not made of very solid material. Some people cry out if we say a word about their Church; it is a sign that their Church is hardly strong enough to endure an honest encounter. Pasteboard and tinsel always pray for peace and charity, but solid metal fears not the day of battle, Be it ours to court the sunlight, and above all let us beseech the Lord our God to be our light, for in his light we shall see light. Sitting at the feet of Jesus be our position! To receive of his words be our sweet employ! As melted wax is fitted to receive the impress of the seal, so let us be ready to accept the Master’s teaching. Let his faintest word bind us as with bonds of steel; and let his minutest precept be precious as the gold of Ophir. “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams;” let it be our chosen privilege to be taught of the Lord, and to maintain his truth. Here, in this house of prayer let us offer the petition, “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth .”

As for matters of duty again, be ye ever ready to follow the Master, and him alone. Not Luther, nor Calvin, neither Wesley, nor Whitfield, is to be your Rabbi; Jesus alone is Master in the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it, but where you have not his warrant, let no traditions or ancient customs make you stir so much as a single inch.

IV. We will close by observing that our text seems to us rightly to express THE SPIRIT OF A DEPARTING CHRISTIAN, There he lies upon the bed; his pulse grows fainter; the many pains of death afflict him. His eye is beginning to glaze, but a brighter light than that of earth has dawned upon him; and while the outward man decayeth, the inward man beginneth to renew his youth. Methinks I see him when his pains are worst. He desireth to go, but he is willing to remain as long as his Master wills. He says sometimes, “I ill can brook delay,” but the next moment he checketh himself, and he saith, “Not my will, but thine be done.” He sits patiently upon the river’s brink, expecting that his Master shall open the passage for him to pass over dryshod. He is praying, ‘Speak, Lord, and the sooner thou wilt speak the more shall I rejoice.’ Say unto me, ‘Come up hither.’ ‘Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth ‘-heareth now better and more distinctly than he ever did hear before; he is now nearer to thee; the ear is almost closed to the din and bustle of the world, while in secret silence of the mind it waits the still small voice of thy lips. Speak, Lord, and say, “Plunge into the river,” and I will cheerfully do so, if thou wilt but come and meet me. “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” Methinks I hear that divine and mysterious voice, which, in fact, none can hear but those whose day of glory is dawning. The messenger has come and whispered in the ear of the dying saint, and I pray you mark his joy for you may see it; its light illuminates the countenance; the eye sparkles with supernatural glory. “Now,” saith the man of God, “my journey is over, and I am almost home.” “Now,” saith the expiring sister, “it is victory, glory, triumph! The white horse is at the door: my Master bids me mount and ride in triumph, following my Lord Jesus, and all the conquering ones. The Master is come in his garments of salvation and calleth for me.” The physician says lie could see the death-change, and the nurse bears the same witness, but the well-instructed believer calls it the life-change, and reads the true meaning of the mysterious transformation. He sees a something, which is a prognostic of the coming glory; he marks those beaming eyes, and that celestial smile. Now strange words drop from the lips-sometimes words that are scarcely lawful for a man to utter, by reason of the high and awful glory of their meaning. Now come the shouts of victory over death-now the note of defiance of the grave. The soul has left all care, all doubt, all fear behind. Its foot is not only on the Rock of Ages, but on that part of the rock which is on the other side of Jordan; and the soul cries with transport, “I am with him: another moment I shall be in his arms! I see him. The angelic chariots await me; I step into them, and I ride to the kingdom.. ‘Victory, victory, victory, through the blood of the Lamb!’“ Something like this was the departing scene of our beloved friend who has gone home this week, and something like this, I trust, will be your departure and mine; but it will not, it cannot be thus with us, except we are resting upon Christ.

“None but Jesus-none but Jesus-Cando helpless sinners good.”

Lo! these fifteen years have I been preaching Jesus’ name, and preaching nothing but his name, and it hath a savor about it sweeter than ever; and if I had but one word more to speak, methinks this should be it: none but Jesus, none but Jesus! Oh! fly to him, it ye would have a blessed death and a glorious resurrection. Look out of yourselves away from your frames and your feelings; look away from ceremonies, from priests, and from all men; look only to the bleeding wounds of my Master. Trust Jesus, expiring on the cross, and trust in him alone. You shall find eternal happiness in him. The Lord bless you with his richest blessing, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

9. Samuel, An Example Of Intercession No. 1537

“Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way” 1 Samuel 12:23

It is a very great privilege to be permitted to pray for our fellowmen. Prayer in each man’s case must necessarily begin with person petition, for until the man is himself accepted with God he cannot act as an intercessor for others; and herein lies part of the excellence of intercessory prayer, for it is to the man who exercises it aright a mark of inward grace, and a token for good from the Lord. Thou mayest be sure that thy King loves thee when he will permit thee to speak a word to him on behalf of thy friend. When the heart is enlarged in believing supplication for others, all doubts about personal acceptance with God may cease; he who prompts us to love has certainly given us that love, and what better proof of his favor do we desire? It is a great advance upon anxiety for our own salvation when we have risen out of the narrowness of dread about ourselves into the broader region of care for a brother’s soul. He who in answer to his intercession has seen others blessed and saved may take it as a pledge of divine love, and rejoice in the condescending grace of God. Such prayer rises higher than any petition for ourselves, for only he who is in favor with the Lord can venture upon pleading for others.

Intercessory prayer is an act of communion with Christ, for Jesus pleads for the sons of men. It is a part of his priestly office to make intercession for his people. He hath ascended up on high to this end, and exercises this office continually within the veil. When we pray for our fellow sinners we are in sympathy with our divine Savior, who made intercession for the transgressors.

Such prayers are often of unspeakable value to those for whom they are offered. Many of us trace our conversion, if we go to the root of it, to the prayers of certain godly persons. In innumerable instances the prayers of parents have availed to bring young people to Christ. Many more will have to bless God for praying teachers, praying friends, praying pastors. Obscure persons confined to their beds are often the means of saving hundreds by their continual pleadings with God. The book of remembrance will reveal the value of these hidden ones, of whom so little is thought by the mass of Christians. As the body is knit together by bands and sinews, and interlacing nerves and veins, so is the whole body of Christ converted into a living unity by mutual prayers; we were prayed for, and now in turn we pray for others. Not only the conversion of sinners, but the welfare, preservation, growth, comfort and usefulness of saints are abundantly promoted by the prayers of their brethren; hence apostolic men cried, “Brethren, pray for us”; he who was the personification of love said, “Pray one for another that ye may be healed,” and our great Lord and Head ended his earthly career by a matchless prayer for those whom the Father had given him.

Intercessory prayer is a benefit to the man who exercises it, and is often a better channel of comfort than any other means of grace. The Lord turned again the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. Even where such prayer does not avail for its precise object, it has its results. David tells us that he prayed for his enemies: he says, In Psalm 35:13, “As for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting.” And he adds, “my prayer returned into mine own bosom.” He sent forth his intercession, like Noah’s dove, but as it found no rest for the sole of its foot, and no blessing came of it, it returned to him who sent it, and brought back with it an olive leaf plucked off, a sense of peace to his own spirit; for nothing is more restful to the heart than to have prayed for those who despitefully use us and persecute us. Prayers for others are pleasing to God and profitable to ourselves; they are no waste of breath, but have a result guaranteed by the faithful Promiser.

Let us first dwell upon his habit of intercession, for it was most manifest in Samuel. We gather this from the text. He says, “God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you.” It is clear, therefore, that he had been in the continual habit and practice of praying for Israel; he could not peak of ceasing to pray if he had not hitherto continued in prayer. Samuel had become so rooted in the habit of prayer for the people that he seems to start at the very thought of bringing his intercession to an end. The people, measuring the prophet by themselves, half suspected that he would be irritated with them, and would, therefore, deny them his prayers; therefore in the nineteenth verse we read, “All the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God, that we die not.” They greatly valued his prayers, and felt as if their national life, and perhaps their personal lives, depended upon his pleadings: therefore they urged him as men who plead for their lives that he would not cease to pray for them, and he replied, “God forbid that I should.” The denial of his prayers does not seem to have entered his thoughts. To my mind the words represent him as astonished at the idea, horrified and half indignant at the suggestion-“ What I, Samuel, I who have been your servant from my childhood, since the day when I put on the little ephod, and waited for you in the house of the Lord; I that have lived for you and have loved you, and was willing to have died in your service, shall I ever cease to pray for you?” He says, “God forbid.” It is the strongest expression that one can well imagine, and this, together with his evident surprise, shows that the prophet’s habit of intercession was rooted, constant, fixed, abiding, a part and parcel of himself.

If you will read his life you will see how truly this was the case. Samuel was born of prayer. A woman of a sorrowful spirit received him from God, and joyfully exclaimed, “For this child I prayed.” He was named in prayer, for his name Samuel signifies, “asked of God.” Well did he carry out his name and prove its prophetic accuracy, for having commenced life by being himself asked of God, he continued asking of God, and all his knowledge, wisdom, justice, and power to rule were things which came to him because “asked of God.” He was nurtured by a woman of prayer at the first, and when he left her it was to dwell in the house of prayer all the days of his life. His earliest days were honored by a divine visitation, and he showed even then that waiting, watchful spirit which is the very knee of prayer. “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth” is the cry of a simple, sincere heart, such as the Lord ever accepts.

We all think of Samuel under that little figure so often painted and sculptured, in which a sweet child is seen in the attitude of prayer. We all seem to know little Samuel, the praying child: our boys and girls know him as a familiar friend, but it is as kneeling with clasped hands. He was born, named, nurtured, housed, and trained in prayer, and he never departed from the way of supplication. In his case the text was fulfilled, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise”; and he so persevered in prayer that he brought forth fruit in old age, and testified of God’s power to those who came after him. So famous did Samuel become as an intercessor that, if you will turn to the ninety-ninth Psalm, at the sixth verse, you will read a short but very fragrant eulogy of him: “Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name.” If Moses and Aaron are selected as being consecrated men, leaders of God’s Israel in service and sacrifice, Samuel is selected as the praying man, the man who calls upon God’s name. All Israel knew Samuel was an intercessor as well as they knew Aaron as a priest. Perhaps even more notably you get the same inspired estimate of him in Jeremiah 15, at the first verse, where he is again classed with Moses: “Then said the Lord unto me, though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.” Here there is no doubt an allusion to the prevalent prayer of Moses, when in the agony of his heart he cried, “If not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy Book which thou hast written.” This was a high form of pleading, but such is God’s valuation of Samuel as an intercessor that he puts him side by side with Moses, and by way of threatening to sinful Israel he tells Jeremiah that he would not even listen to Moses and Samuel if they stood before him. It is well to learn the art of prayer in our earliest days, for then we grow up to be proficient in it. Early prayer grows into powerful prayer. Hear this, you young people, and may the Lord now make Samuels of you. What an honor to be called to intercede for others, to be the benefactor of our nation, or even the channel of blessing to our own households. Aspire to it, my dear young friends. Perhaps you will never preach, but you may pray. If you cannot climb the pulpit you may bow before the mercy seat, and be quite as great a blessing.

As to the success of Samuel’s prayers, read his life, and you will find that wrought great deliverances for the people. In the seventh chapter of this book we find that the Philistines grievously oppressed Israel, and Samuel bravely called the people together, to consider their condition, and bade them turn from idolatry, and worship the only true God, and promised them his prayers as a boon which they greatly valued. These are his words: “Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you unto the Lord.” He then took a lamb, and offered it up for a burnt-offering wholly unto the lord, “and Samuel cried unto the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him.” This is one of the grand events of his life, and yet it is fairly descriptive of his whole career. He cried, and the Lord heard. In this instance the Israelites marched to battle, but Jehovah went before them, in answer to the prophet’s prayer. You could hear the rolling of the drums in the march of the God of armies, and see the glittering of his spear, for so is the history of the battle recorded: “And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them.” The conclusion of the whole is, “So the Philistines were subdued”; that is to say, the prayer of Samuel was the conquering weapon, and Philistia crouched beneath its power. Oh ye who know the power of prayer, write this on your banners, “So the Philistines were subdued.”

Samuel’s prayers were so prevalent that the very elements were controlled by him. Oh, the power of prayer! It has been ridiculed: it has been represented as an unscientific and an unpractical thing, but we who daily try it know that its power cannot be exaggerated, and do not feel even a shadow of doubt concerning it. There is such power in prayer that it “moves the arm that moves the world.” We have but to know how to pray, and the thunder shall lift up its voice in answer to our cry, and Jehovah’s arrows shall be scattered abroad to the overthrowing of his adversaries. How should those be able to judge of prayer who never ask at all, or never ask in faith? Let those bear witness to whom prayer is a familiar exercise, and to whom answers from God are as common as the day. Over a father’s heart no power has so great a control as his child’s necessity, and in the case of our Father who is in heaven it is especially so. He must hear prayer, for he cannot dishonor his own name, or forget his own children. When in his old age the people began to turn against Samuel, and to express dissatisfaction with his unworthy sons, it is beautiful to notice how Samuel at once resorted to prayer. Look at the eighth chapter, the fifth verse: the people “said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us.” The old man was sorely grieved; it was natural that he should be. But look at the next words. Did Samuel scold the people? Did he send them home in a huff? No. It is written, “And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.” He told his Master about them, and his Master said to him, “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee,”-do not lay it to heart as if it were a personal affront to thee- “but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” This slight upon God’s servant was a rejection of God himself, and he would not have Samuel lay to heart their ingratitude to him, but think of their wicked conduct to the Lord their God. Thus, you see, Samuel was a man of abundant prayer, and in the twenty-first verse we read that, after he had entered his protest, and told the people of all that they would have to suffer from a king, how he would tax them and oppress them, and take their sons to be soldiers and their daughters to wait in his palace, and take their fields and vineyards, though they still persisted in saying, “Nay, but we will have a king,” he made no angry answer but returned to his God in secret communion, “Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord.” Oh, that we were wise enough to do the like! Instead of going about and telling one and another of the opprobrious things that have been said about us, it were well to go straight away to our closet and rehearse them in the ears of the Lord. Samuel was thus, you see, throughout his whole official life, a man mighty in prayer, and when the people left him and followed after their new-made king, our text shows that he did not cease to intercede for them. He says, “God forbid that I should cease to pray to God for you.”

Nor was this all, when Saul had turned aside and become a traitor to his divine Lord, Samuel made intercession for him. One whole night he spent in earnest entreaty, though it was all in vain; and many a time and oft did he sigh for the rejected prince. The old man had been, from his youth up, an intercessor, and he never ceased from the holy exercise till his lips were closed in death. Now, beloved, you are not judges of the land, else would I plead with you to pray much for the people whom you rule. You are not all pastors and teachers, else would I say that if we do not abound in prayer the blood of souls will be upon our skirts. Some of you, however, are teachers of the young: do not think that you have done anything for your classes till you have prayed for them. Be not satisfied with the hour or two of teaching in the week, be frequent in your loving supplications. Many of you are parents. How can you discharge your duty towards your children except you bear their names upon your hearts in prayer? Those of you who are not found in these relationships have nevertheless some degree of ability, some measure of influence, some position in which you can do good to your fellows, and these demand your dependence upon God. You cannot discharge your responsibilities as relatives, as citizens, as neighbors, nay, as Christian men, unless you often make supplication for all ranks and conditions. To pray for others must become to you a habit from which you would not cease even if they provoked you to the utmost degree; for you would only cry out, God forbid that I should cease to pray for you, for it would be a great sin in the sight of the Most High.

Now, secondly, I call you to notice in Samuel’s case his provocation to cease from intercession, which provocation he patiently endured. The first provocation was the slight which they put upon himself. The grand old man who had all the year round made his circuit from place to place to do justice had never looked at a bribe. He had done everything for them without fee or reward. Though he had a right to his stipend, yet he did not take it; in the generosity of his spirit he did everything gratuitously, like Nehemiah in after days who said, “The former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.” Samuel throughout a long life had kept the land in peace, and innumerable blessings had come to Israel through his leadership; but now he was getting old and somewhat infirm, though he was far from being worn out, and they seized on this excuse for setting up a king. The old man felt that there was life and work in him yet; but they clamored for a king, and therefore their aged friend must give up his office and come down from his high position. It displeases him when he first hears their demand, but after a little time spent in prayer he resigns his position very pleasantly, and all his anxiety is to find the right man for the throne. When the man is found he is full of care that the Lord’s anointed shall be guided aright in the kingdom; and without a thought about himself he rejoices at the sight of one whose opening days promised so well. His deposition was a hard thing, mark you, an unkind, ungenerous thing; but he did not pray one atom the less for the people because or it; probably he prayed much more; for as his mother prayed most when the sorrow of her heart was greatest, so was it with him. Beyond the provocation which came from slight upon himself he felt wounded by their utter rejection of his solemn protest. He stood before them and reasoned with them in the clearest possible manner: “What do you want a king for?” he seemed to say. “This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you; he will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. He will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers; and he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants; and he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep; and ye shall be his servants; and ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.” There was sound common sense in all these, and every word turned out to be true in fact before long, and yet they would not listen. They said, “Nay, but we will have a king over us; that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and fight our battles.” Despite their rejection of his warning, the venerable man did not grow testy. It is sometimes the infirmity of wise men of years and weight, that when they have presented a clearer case, presented it earnestly in all simplicity of heart, and the thing looks as plain as that twice two make four, then if their hearers deliberately persist in defying their warning they grow peevish, or perhaps it is more fair to say they exhibit a justifiable indignation. Samuel is always hopeful, and if they will not do the best thing possible, he will try to lead them to do the second best. If they will not abide under the direct rule of the Lord, as their King, he hopes that they will do well under a human king who shall be a viceroy under God, and so he continues hopefully to pray for them, and to make the best he can of them.

At last it came to this, that the nation must have a king, and their king must be crowned. They must go to Gilgal to settle the kingdom, and then Samuel stood up and in the words which I read to you just now he declared how he had dealt with them, how he had never defrauded nor oppressed, nor taken anything from them, and he told them that their choice of a king was to some extent a rejection of God, that they were putting aside the best of rules and the most honorable of governments to go down to the level of the nations. Still, they rejected his last appeal, and it is beautiful to my mind to see how calmly he drops the question when he has given his last address, and made his most solemn appeal to heaven. Their obstinate adherence to their whim did not cause him to restrain prayer on their behalf.

The practical lesson of this is that when you are tempted to cease from pleading for certain persons you must not yield to the suggestion. They have ridiculed your prayers: they tell you that they do not want them: they have even made a taunt and a jest of your pious wishes on their behalf. Never mind. Retaliate by still greater love. Do not cease to wrestle with God for them. It may be you have been very much disappointed in them; your heart breaks to see how they have gone aside, yet go with your deep anxieties to the mercy seat, and cry out again for them. What will become of them if you leave them to themselves? Do not leave off interceding, though you are provoked to do so in ten thousand ways.

It may be that you think, partly in unbelief, and partly through trembling anxiety, that really their doom is sealed, and they will go on to perdition. Let this rather increase the intensity of your prayer than in the least degree diminish it. Till sinners are in hell cry to God for them. As long as there is breath in their bodies and your body cause the voice of our supplication to be heard. Your husband, good woman, what if he does grow more drunken and more profane, pray for him still; for God, who can draw out leviathan as with a hook, can yet take this great sinner and make a saint of him. What if your son does seem to be more profligate than ever, follow him with many entreaties, and weep before God about him still. Loving mother and gracious father, join your fervent cries day and night at the mercy seat and you shall yet obtain our desire.

I come, in the third place, briefly to notice Samuel in his persevering intercession. Though the people thus provoked him he did not cease from prayer for them; for, first, there and then, he offered fresh supplication for them, and that cry was heard, and Saul was dowried with a rich measure of favor to start with. Samuel did not cease his prayer for Saul when Saul had gone far astray, for we find this passage: “Then came the word of the Lord to Samuel, saying, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandment; and it grieved Samuel, and he cried unto the Lord all night.” All night. I think I see the old man in an agony for Saul, whom he loved. Old men need sleep, but the prophet forsook his bed, and in the night watches poured out his soul unto the Lord. Though he received no cheering answer, he still continued to cry; for we read, a little further on, that the Lord said to him, “How long wilt thou mourn for Saul?” He was pushing the case as far as ever he could push it, till the Lord gave him warning that there was no use in it. “How long wilt thou mourn for Saul?” It is to be admired in Samuel, that, even though Saul may have committed the sin which is unto death, and Samuel had some fear that his fate was fixed, yet he prayed on in desperate hope. The Apostle John puts the case thus: “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” He does not in such a case forbid our prayers, neither does he encourage them, but I take it that he gives us a permit to pray on. We do not know for certain that the most guilty person has indeed passed the bound of mercy, and therefore we may intercede with hope. If we have a horrible dread upon us that possibly our erring relative is beyond hope, if we are not commanded to pray, we are certainly not forbidden, and it is always best to err on the safe side, if it be erring at all. We may still go to God, even with a forlorn hope, and cry to him in the extremity of our distress. We are not likely to hear the Lord say to us, “How long wilt thou mourn for Saul?” We are not likely to hear him say, “How long will you pray for your boy? How long will you mourn over your husband? I do not intend to save them.”

When the prophet knew that Saul was hopelessly rejected he did not cease to pray for the nation, but went down to Bethlehem and anointed David, and when David was pursued by the malice of Saul we find him harboring David at Ramah, and exhibiting the power of prayer in his own house and in the holy place; for when Saul came down thinking to seize David, even in the seer’s house, there was a prayer meeting being held, and Saul was so struck with it that he took to prophesying himself, and lay down all night among them disrobed and humbled. Men exclaimed, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” The malicious king could not venture to touch Samuel. The prophet was a gentle, mild, loving man; and yet the black-hearted Saul always had an awe of him, so that he took hold of his skirts for protection, and after he was dead wickedly sought to his supposed spirit for guidance. The man of God had evidently impressed the tall reprobate with the weight of his holy character. It is written that God was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground; and this was because he was a praying man. He who can prevail with God for man can always prevail with man for God. If you can overcome heaven by prayer, you can overcome earth by preaching: if you know the art of speaking to the Eternal, it will be a small thing to speak to mortal men. Rest assured that the very essence of all true power over men for their good must lie in power with God in secret: when we have waited upon the Lord, and prevailed, our work is well-nigh done. I pray you, therefore, still persevere in supplication, and be supported in your perseverance by the knowledge that it would be a sin to cease to pray for those who have been the subjects of your petitions. Samuel confesses that it would have been sinful on his part to abstain from intercession. How so? Why, if he ceased to pray for that people, he would be neglecting his office, for God had made him a prophet to the nation, and he must intercede for them or neglect his duty. It would show a want of love to the Lord’s chosen people if he did not pray for them. How could he teach them if he was not himself taught of God? How could he possibly hope to sway them if he had not enough affection for them to cry to God on their behalf? It would be in his case, too, a sin of anger. It would look as if he were in a pet with them and with God too, because he could not be all that he would wish to be. “God forbid,” he said, “I should harbor such anger in my bosom as to cease to pray for you.” It would have been a neglect of the divine glory; for whatever the people might be, God’s name was wrapped up in them, and if they did not prosper the Lord would not be glorified in the eyes of the heathen. He could not give up praying for them, for their cause was the cause of God. It would have been a cruelty to souls if he who possessed such power in prayer had restrained it. Now, brethren and sisters, it will be sin on your part if you neglect the mercy seat. You will grieve the Holy Spirit, you will rob Christ of his glory, you will be cruel to souls dead in sin, and you will be false and traitorous to the Spirit of grace, and to your sacred calling.

Our last point is that Samuel showed his sincerity in intercession by corresponding action, for he says in the words of the text, “God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way.” So far from leaving off praying, he would be doubly diligent to each them: and he did so. He taught them by reminding them of God’s promises, that he would not forsake his people: by directing them how to act- “Serve God in truth with all you heart”: by urging motives upon them- “consider the great things he hath done for you”: and by adding a solemn warning, “If you shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.” After praying for your friends, do try as well as you can to answer your own prayer by using the means which God ordinarily blesses. Some persons make idle prayers, for they use no effort for obtaining their requests. If a husbandman asks for a harvest, he also plows and sows, for else his supplications would be hypocritical. If we wish to see our neighbors converted, we shall labor for it in all ways. We shall invite them to go with us where the Gospel is faithfully preached, or we shall place a good book in their way, or we shall speak with them personally about eternal things. If I knew where gold was to be had for the picking up, and I wanted my neighbor to be rich, I would tell him of the precious deposit, and ask him to come and gather some of the treasure with me. But many never think of inviting a neighbor or a friend who is a Sabbath-breaker to go with them to the house of God; and there are thousands in London who only want an invitation and they would be sure to come, once, at any rate, and who can tell but that once might lead to their conversion?

If I desire the salvation of anyone I ought to tell him as best as I can what his condition is, and what the way of salvation is, and how he may find rest. All men are approachable at some time or in some way. It is very imprudent to rush at everybody as soon as you see them, without thought or ordinary prudence, for you may disgust those whom you wish to win: but those who earnestly plead for others, and bestir themselves to seek them, are generally taught of God, and so they are made wise as to time, manner, and subject. A man who wishes to shoot birds will, after a while, become expert in the sport, because he will give his mind to it: he will after a little practice become a noted marksman and know all about guns and dogs. A man who wants to catch salmon has his heart set upon his angling, and becomes absorbed in the pursuit. He soon learns how to use his rod and how to manage his fish. So he who longs to win souls, and puts his heart into it, finds out the knack of it by some means, and the Lord gives him success. I could not teach it to you, you must practice in order to find out; but this I will say, no man is clear of his fellows’ blood simply because he has prayed to be so. Supposed we had around this parish of Newington a number of people who were dying of hunger, and we were to have a prayer meeting that God would relive their wants: would it not be hypocrisy worthy to be ridiculed and help up to reprobation if, after having prayed for these people, we all went home and ate our own dinners and did not give them a farthing’s worth of bread? The truly benevolent man puts his hand in his pocket and says, “What can I do that my prayer may be answered?” I have heard of one who prayed in New York for a certain number of very poor families that he had visited, and he asked the Lord that they might be fed and clothed. His little sons said, “Father, if I were God I should tell you to answer your own prayer, for you have plenty of money.” Thus the Lord might well say to us when we have been interceding, “Go and answer your own prayer by telling your friends of my Son.” Do you sing, “Fly abroad, thou mighty Gospel”? Then give it wings covered with silver. Do you sing, “Waft, waft, ye winds, his story”? Then spend your breath for it. There is a power in your gifts; there is a power in your speech; use these powers. If you cannot personally do much, you can do a great deal by helping another to preach Christ: but chief and first you ought to do somewhat by your own hand, heart, and tongue. Go and teach the good and right way, and then shall your prayers be heard.

11. Where True Prayer Is Found No. 1412

DAVID had first found it in his heart to build a house for God. Sitting in his house of cedar he resolved that the ark of God should no longer abide under curtains, but should be more suitably housed. The Lord, however, did not design that David should build his temple, though he accepted his pious intentions, and declared that it was well that it was in his heart. From which we may learn that our intentions to serve the Lord in a certain manner may be thoroughly good and acceptable, and yet we may not be permitted to carry them out. We may have the will but not the power: the aspiration but not the qualification. We may have to stand aside and see another do the task which we had chosen for ourselves, and yet we may be none the less pleasing to the Lord, who in his great love accepts the will for the deed. It is a holy self-denial which in such cases rejoices to see the Lord glorified by others, and at the Captain’s bidding cheerfully stands back in the rear, when zeal had urged it to rush to the front. It is as true service not to do as to do when the Lord’s word prescribes it.

The reason why David was not to build the house is not stated here, but you will find it in 1 Chronicles 28:2, 3. “Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building: but God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood.” David’s wars had been necessary and justifiable, and by them the people of the Lord had been delivered; but the Ever Merciful One did not delight in them, and would not use for building his temple an instrument which had been stained with blood. The great Prince of Peace would not have a warrior’s hand to pile the palace of his worship, choosing rather that a man whose mind had exercised itself in quieter pursuits should be the founder of the place of rest for the ark of his covenant of peace. He is not so short of instruments as to use a sword for a trowel, or a spear for a measuring rod, especially when these have been dyed in the blood of his creatures. In your own household affairs you do not use the same implement or utensil for opposite purposes; if David, therefore, is used to smite Philistines he is not to be employed in erecting a temple; Solomon, his son, a man of peace. is called to do that holy work. I have sometimes trembled on behalf of our own nation, and especially just now, lest its warlike propensities should disqualify it for what has hitherto appeared its highest destiny. If it should resolve to pick a quarrel and wantonly plunge itself into a bloody war, it may come to pass that our God may judge it to be unfit for the accomplishment of his purposes of grace. Even if it were granted that the war would be most just and right, yet should it be undertaken with solemn reluctance, lest it should deprive our nation of the capacity to be the preacher of righteousness and the herald of the cross. With what face can we preach the gospel of peace among the heathen if we provoke war ourselves? Little wonder would it be if the Lord should say of the English people, “Ye shall not convert the nations nor build up a church for my name, because ye delight in war and have needlessly shed blood.” God grant that all things may be so ordered according to his infinite wisdom that this land may be the true Solomon among the nations, and build a temple for God, which shall enclose the whole earth, wherein every language and every nation shall be heard praising and magnifying the Lord. Labour, I pray you, O ye servants of the loving Savior, to promote peace if haply the temporary rage of the multitude may be appeased without carnage. To return to personal cases: it may happen to any one of you to be called to pass through business or domestic trials, in which you may be altogether blameless, and yet you may at the close of them find yourself disqualified for certain prominent positions of usefulness, at least for a time. Henceforth you may not hope to accomplish certain high and noble purposes which once were laid upon your heart. God may have to say to you ever afterwards, “You use lies elsewhere. I will not employ you for this, but still I accept you, and it was well that it was in your heart;” and if he should so see fit, do not repine, but like David do all you can towards the work that the man who is to perform it may find materials ready to his hand. David gathered much of the treasure to meet the cost, and did it none the less earnestly because another name would outshine his own in connection with the temple.

Beloved friends, there is a very sweet consolation in my text for those who may be placed in circumstances similar to those of David. If by any means a man of God becomes disqualified for any form of desirable service which was upon his heart, yet nothing can disqualify him from prayer. If he find it in his heart to pray he may boldly draw near to God through the sacrifice of Christ, he may still use the way of access, which the dying body of our Lord has opened, and he may win his suit at the throne of grace. It was well for David that though, when the building of the temple was in his heart it could not be, yet when a prayer was in. his heart it might be presented with the certainty of acceptance. If thou, my brother or my sister, art denied the privilege of doing what thy heart is set upon, be not angry with God, but set thy heart towards him in prayer; ask what thou wilt and he will give thee the desire of thine heart.

By my text three thoughts are suggested: the first is it is well to find prayer in our heart,- “therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee;” secondly, it is pleasant to be able to see how the prayer came there,-I shall trace the rise and progress of the prayer of David; and, thirdly, it is most profitable to use a prayer when we find it in our heart; for David solemnly prayed the prayer which he discovered in his soul.

I. First, then, IT IS WELL TO FIND PRAYER IN OUR HEARTS. In no other place can true prayer be found. Prayer with the lip, prayer with bended knee and uplifted hand is nothing worth if the heart be absent. Prayer as a mere matter of form and routine is but the husk, heart-work is the kernel. Words are the oyster shell, the desire of the heart is the pearl. Do not imagine that the Lord looks down with any pleasure upon the tens of thousands of forms of prayer, whether liturgical or extempore, which are presented to him without heart: such forms rather weary him than worship him; they are not adoration, but provocation. The God of truth can never accept an untruthful devotion. Our prayer must flow from our heart, or it will never reach the heart of God. But prayer is not found in every man’s heart. Alas, many of our fellow men never pray; and many who think they pray are yet strangers to that sacred exercise. If an angel were now suddenly to announce that he would mark every man and woman here who has never prayed I fear that many of you would be in a great fright, for fear the mark should be on you. If suddenly the complexion could change, and each prayerless person’s face should gather blackness, I wonder how many there would be among us whom we should gaze upon with intense surprise! There shall be no such Cain-like mark set upon any of you, but will you set some sort of seal upon your own conscience if you are compelled to confess, “I am one of those who have never prayed.” What an acknowledgment for a rational being to make! Twenty years of life without a prayer to the Creator of its being! Be astonished, O heavens, and amazed O earth! Perhaps you deny that you are thus guilty, for you have always said a prayer, and would not have gone to sleep at night if you had not done so; then, I pray you, remember that you may have repeated holy words from your youth up, and yet may have never prayed a prayer with your heart. To pray as the Holy Ghost teaches is a very different thing from the repetition of the choicest words that the best of writers may have composed, or the utterance of random words without thought. Have we prayed with our hearts or not? Remember, a prayerless soul is a Christless soul, and a Christless soul is a lost soul, and will soon be cast away for ever. The verses were meant for children, but I cannot forbear quoting them here, for they in simple language express my meaning;

“I often say my prayers;But do I ever pray?And do the wishes of my heartGo with the words I say?”“I may as well kneel downAnd worship gods of stone,As offer to the living GodA prayer of words alone.“For words without the heartThe Lord will never hear;Nor will he to those lips attendWhose prayers are not sincere.”

Further, let me observe that the spirit of prayer, though it is always present in every regenerated heart, is not always alike active. It is not, perhaps, to-day nor to-morrow that every Christian will be able to say, “I find in my heart to pray this one particular prayer unto God”; it may for the present be beyond our standard of grace, and we may therefore be unable to grasp the blessing. In some respects we are not masters of our supplications. You cannot always pray the prayer of faith in reference to any one thing; that prayer is often the distinct gift of God for an occasion. Others may ask your prayers, and sometimes you may plead very prevalently for them; but at another time that power is absent. You feel no liberty to offer a certain petition, but on the contrary feel held back in the matter. Well, be guided by this inward direction: and follow rather than press forward in such a case. There are times with us when we find it in our heart to pray a prayer, and then we do so with eagerness and assurance; but we cannot command such seasons at pleasure. How freely then does prayer come from us, as freely as the leaping water from the fountain; there is no need to say, “I long to pray,” we do pray, we cannot help praying, we have become a mass of prayer. We are walking the streets and cannot pray aloud, but our heart pleads as fast as it beats; we enter our house and attend to family business, and still the heart keeps pleading as constantly as the lungs are heaving; we go to bed, and our last thought is supplication; if we wake in the night still is our soul making intercession before God, and so it continues while the visitation remains. O that it were always so. Now it is a very happy thing when the Christian finds it in his heart to pray with marked and special fervor unto God. Then he puts no pressure upon himself, nor thinks of supplication as a matter of duty; it has become a pleasant necessity, a sacred passion of the inward life, a holy breathing of the soul, not to be restrained. So it should always be, but, alas, most of us have to mourn that in the matter of prayer we are the subjects of many changeful moods. O that we had learned more perfectly how to be praying always in the Holy Ghost.

The presence of living prayer in the heart indicates seven things about that heart upon which we will speak with great brevity.

First, prayer in the heart proves that the heart is renewed. True prayer dwells not in a dead, corrupt, stony heart. If thou findest in thy heart to pray a prayer unto God thou hast assuredly been born again. “Behold he prayeth,” is one of the first and one of the surest marks of the new birth. The faintest movement of the pulse proves that life still remains in a drowning man, and though prayer be weak, feeble, fragmentary, yet if it be there at all the soul lives unto God. Though to your apprehension your prayer is so poor and broken and unworthy that it cannot be accepted, yet the desire of the soul towards. God is an index of spiritual life most hopeful and instructive. Have hope, brother, as long as you can pray, for none who pray believingly, in the name of Jesus, can ever be cast into hell. He whom faith in Jesus has taught to cry to God shall never hear him say, “Depart, ye cursed,” for hath not the Lord said, “Whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”? Be glad, therefore, if you find it in your heart to pray, for it proves that the root of the matter is in you.

To find prayer in the heart proves next a reconciled heart. David might have been in a pet with God and have said, “If I cannot build a temple I will do nothing, for I have set my heart upon it, and I have already laid up treasure for it. It is a laudable project, and it has had the sanction of the prophet, and I am hardly used in having my design rejected.” There are some professors who would do a great thing if they might, but if they are not permitted to act a shining part they are in the sulks and angry with their God. David when his proposal was set aside found it in his heart not to murmur, but to pray. Job asks concerning the hypocrite, “Will he always call upon Cod?” and thus he meant to say that only true and loyal hearts will continue to pray when things go hard with them. Let this be a test for you and for me. Canst thou pray, brother, now that the delight of thine eyes has been cut off by death? Canst thou pray now that thy substance is diminished and thy bodily health is failing? Then I take it as a sign that thou hast submitted thyself unto God and art at peace with him, being reconciled to him by his grace. To cease from complaining and to give the heart to prayer is the sign of a soul renewed and reconciled.

Prayer is also the index of a spiritual heart. David sat in his house of cedar: it was costly and carved with great art, but it did not draw his mind away from God. It has too often happened that prospering professors have become proud professors, and have forgotten God. When they were poor they associated with Christian brethren, whom they felt pleasure in recognizing, but now they have gotten a large estate they no longer know the poor people of God, and they spend their Sabbaths where they can meet with a little “society,” and move among their “equals” as they call them, they being themselves so very much superior to the holy men and women whom once they had in honor. Such folks become high and mighty like Nebuchadnezzar, and as they walk their grounds or sit in their painted chambers they say, “Behold this great Babylon which I have builded.” A “self-made man,” risen from the ranks, come to have a name like the name of the great men that are upon the face of the earth: is not this something? Oftentimes hath it happened that these things have turned away the hearts of professors from the God who loaded them with benefits. It was not so with David. In his cedar palace he found it in his heart to pray. The more he had the more he loved his God; the more he received the more he desired to render unto the Lord for his benefits. Plants when they are pot-bound become poor weak things, and so do men’s hearts when they are earth-bound, doting upon their riches. As a traveler finds it hard to move when his feet stick in the mud of a miry way, so do some men make small progress heavenward because they are hindered by their own wealth. Happy is that man who has riches but does not suffer riches to have him: who uses wealth and does not abuse it by idolizing it, but seasons all with the word of God and prayer.

Prayer in the heart also proves an enlightened heart. A man who does not pray is in the dark; he knoweth not his own wants, else would he make supplication. If he understood his own danger, the temptations which surround him, and the corruptions which are within him, he would be incessantly in prayer. He who hath left off praying hath surely lost his wits. If the Holy Ghost has taught us anything he has taught us this, that we must pray without ceasing. David prayed, too, as an enlightened man, because he felt that devotion was due to God. Since the Lord had done so much for him he must worship and adore: “Therefore hath thy servant,” saith he, “found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.” He who is well taught by the Spirit of God knows his position to be that of a humble dependent, who is bound to reverence his God with all his heart; and hence he daily sings, “Thy vows are upon me, O God, I will render praise unto thee.”

The heart in which prayer is found constantly welling up is also a lively heart. We do not all possess lively hearts, nor do we all keep them when we get them, for some men appear to have fatty degeneration of the heart, after a spiritual manner, since their heart acts very feebly in prayer. They are lethargic and lifeless in devotion. Do we not all find ourselves at times in a cold state in reference to prayer? Brothers, I believe that when we cannot pray it is time that we prayed more than ever; and if you answer, “But how can that be?” I would say- pray to pray, pray for prayer, pray for the spirit of supplication. Do not be content to say, “I would pray if I could”; no, but if you cannot pray, pray till you can. He who can row down stream with a flowing tide and a fair wind is but a poor oarsman compared with the man who can pull against wind and tide, and nevertheless make headway. This our soul must endeavor to do. But, beloved, how delicious it is when you can pray, and cannot leave off; when your heart pours forth devotion as the roses shed their odours, or the sun gives his light. I love to feel my soul on the wing like the birds in spring, which are always singing and flitting from bough to bough, full of life and vigor. Oh to have the soul mounting on eagle’s wings, and no longer groping in the earth like a mole. To be instant, constant, eager at prayer-this is health, vigor, and delight. To feel the heart in prayer like the chariots of Amminadib, outstripping the wind-this is a joy worth worlds.

Beloved, this finding in the heart to pray proves, in the sixth place, that the heart is in communion with God; for what is prayer but the breath of God in man returning whence it came. Prayer is a telephone by which God speaks in man. His heaven is far away, but his voice sounds in our soul. Prayer is a phonograph: God speaks into our soul, and then our soul speaks out again what the Lord has spoken. Conversation must always be two-sided. God speaketh to us in this book- we must reply to him in prayer and praise. If you do not pray, my brother, why then you have shut the gates of heaven against yourself, and there is neither coming in nor going out between you and your Lord: but prayer keeps up a heavenly commerce acceptable to God and enriching to your own souls. Do you find yourself mightily moved to pray? Then the Lord is very near to you; the Beloved has come into his is garden to eat his pleasant fruits-take care to feast him with your love. Prayer in the heart is the echo of the footsteps of the Bridegroom of our souls who is seeking communion with us. Open wide the doors of your soul and let him in, and then detain him and constrain him, saying, “Abide with us.”

When we find prayer in the heart, we may know that our heart is accepted of God, and the prayer too. Brother, when a desire comes to thee again and again and again, take it as a favorable omen regarding thy supplication. If the Lord should prompt thee to any one desire especially, laying thy child perhaps more than usual upon thy heart, or causing the name of a friend constantly to occur to thee, so that thou findest thyself frequently praying for him-take this as a token from the Lord that he would have thee turn thy thoughts in that direction, and that a blessing is in store for thee. If a certain church which seems to need revival is laid upon thy soul, or a township or a district, mark well the fact. Suppose thou findest thy heart going out towards a special country or city, bearing thy mind thither and working to pray with tears and entreaties, grieving because of its sin, and entreating that God would remember and forgive, be thou sure that this is a prophecy of good to that place, and do thou redouble thy petitions. When the gale blows the navigator spreads his sail to catch the wind, and when the Spirit, who bloweth where he listeth, comes upon thee influencing thee to this or that, be sure to spread all sail. Reckon that the inclination to pray is the foretaste of the coming blessing; as coming events cast their shadows before them, thy desire is the shadow of the mercy which God is sending down to thee. He moves thee to pray for it because he himself is about to give it.

Thus I have shown that it is well when we find it in our hearts to pray a prayer, for it proves the heart to be in many respects in a healthy condition.

II. Now, secondly, IT IS PLEASANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE HOW THE PRAYER CAME INTO THE HEART. “I find it in my heart,” says David. Well, David, how did it come there? I answer as he did not, that any true prayer which is found in the human heart comes there by the Holy Ghost. If there be anything excellent in us, even if it be only a desire to pray acceptably, it is of the Holy Spirit’s creation, and unto him be all the praise. But the modus operandi, the way in which the Spirit operates upon us is somewhat in this fashion. First of all he puts the promise into the word of God. David tells us very plainly that it was because God had revealed such and such promises that. therefore saith he, “hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.” The Lord gives the promise, and that becomes the parent of our prayer. For first there are some mercies we should never have thought of praying for if he had not promised them. They would never have suggested themselves to us, and we should not have known our need of them unless the supply had taught us, and the promise of God itself incited us to the desire. There are other mercies for which we should not have dared to pray if the promise had not encouraged us. We could not have had the heart to ask such great things if the Lord had not promised them to us. So that the word of God suggests the desire and then encourages us to hope that the desire will certainly be fulfilled. Moreover when promise comes very close home to a man as it did to David when it was spoken personally to him by the prophet, it vivifies the soul, causes the mind to realize the blessing, and both intensifies desire and gives grasp and grip to faith. We should not have felt the boon to be real had it not been placed before us in plain words. Brethren, this is how our prayers come into our heart. The word of God suggests them, encourages us to seek them, and then gives us a realizing power so that we plead with eagerness and believe with force. In saying “therefore” David means not only that the word of God had put the prayer into his mind but that his whole meditation had led him to the finding of this prayer in his heart. Had he not been sitting before the Lord in quiet thought he might never have noticed the work of the Spirit upon his soul, but inward searchings brought the right prayer to light. Will you kindly look through the chapter while I very briefly sum up its contents and show that each item excited David to pray? When the king sat before the Lord and spake out his heart, his first word was about the Lord’s past goodness to bun and his own insignificance,-“ Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?” Brethren, who are we that God should have been so good to us? But inasmuch as his grace to us has been amazing, do we not find it in our heart to pray a prayer to him that he would bless us still more? Can you not enquire of the Lord in the words of the hymn which we sang just now-

“After so much mercy past Canst thou let me sink at last?”

He hath been mindful of us, he will bless us. Let our memory of his past lovingkindness excite us to prayer for present and future favors. David then passed on to speak of the greatness of the promise: “This was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant’s house for a great while to come.” We also have received exceeding great and precious promises, and since God has promised so much, will we not be much in prayer? Shall he be large in promising and shall we be narrow in asking? Shall he stand before us and say, “Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive,” and will we be content with slender, starved petitions? Beggars seldom need pressing to beg, and when a promise is given them they usually put the widest possible construction upon it, and urge it with great vehemence; will it not be well to take a leaf out of their book? Come, brethren, the argument is strong with those who have spiritual sense- the greatness of the promise encourages us to find many a prayer in our heart.

Then he speaks of the surprising “manner” of God. “Is this the manner of man, O Lord God?” He saw that God acted far more graciously than the most generous human beings act towards their fellows. He perceived that “as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are God’s ways above our ways, and his thoughts above our thoughts,” and therefore he opened his mouth wide in prayer. Was he not right in so doing, and are we right, my brother, if we do not imitate his example? We are advised by the wise man not to go into our brother’s house in the day of our calamity, and the like wisdom would move us not to ask too much from friends and neighbors; but no such prudence is needful towards our Friend above; to him we may come at all hours, and to him we may offer the largest requests. Since the Lord dealeth not as men deal, but giveth liberally and upbraideth not, since he openeth the windows of the treasury of heaven, and is pleased to make no stint whatever in the showers of his liberality, let us wait upon him continually. His unspeakable love should encourage us to abound in prayer.

Then the king goes on to speak of God’s free grace, which was another argument to pray. “For thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things to make thy servant know them.” The Lord had entered into covenant with him, not because David had merited so great an honor, but entirely for his own mercy s sake. David recognizes the freeness and sovereignty of the grace, and seems to say, “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. If thou hast loved me so, then am I bold to ask great things of thee. If thou waitest not for the merit of man, nor for human deservings, then will I ask thee still further to bless me, unworthy though I am, to the praise of the glory of thy name.” Pray mightily, my brethren, since God sits on a throne of grace. When the choicest treasures are to be had for the asking, who can refuse to pray? Then he proceeded to mention the greatness of God, “Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any Cod beside thee.” Surely, to a great God we should bring great prayers. We dishonor him by the fewness of our petitions, and the littleness of our desires. My soul, enlarge thy desires; be hungry, be thirsty, be greedy after divine grace, for whatever thou desirest thou shalt have, provided it be indeed for thy good. Thy desire to obtain shall be the test of thy capacity to receive. Brethren, we have not because we ask not, or because we ask amiss. “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name,” said the Lord Jesus to his disciples, and he might say the same to us now; for all we have ever asked comes to next to nothing compared with what he is prepared to give, compared with what he will give when once he has tutored us into something like largeness of heart in prayer, like that of Solomon, of whom we read, “God gave him largeness of heart even as the sand which is on the sea shore.” We need to be delivered from narrow conceptions of God, and limited desires in prayer, that we may ask of infinity with suitable capacity of soul, and so may receive grace upon grace, and be filled with all the fullness of God.

David closed his meditation by speaking of God’s love to his people, saying, “And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever: and thou, Lord, art become their God.” Well, since the Lord loves his people so intensely, we may well be encouraged to ask great things for ourselves, and especially to seek great things for the church. We are no strangers to God now, his chosen are neither aliens nor foreigners, they are his children, dear to his heart; and if we, being evil, know now to give good gifts unto our children, how much more sure is it that our heavenly Father will give good gifts to them that ask him? When you pray for Zion plead for great prosperity, and speak with boldness, for you are asking blessings upon those whom God delights to bless, asking prosperity for that church which is as the apple of his eye.

I will sum up this point as to the pleasure of seeing how prayer comes to be in our heart, by briefly tracing the line of beauty along which it runs. First of all the thought and purpose of blessing arises in the heart of God: David perceived that to be the case, for in the twenty-first verse he says, “For thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things.” Prayer owes its origin to the heart of God. The next stage is reached when it is revealed by inspiration; the Lord sent Nathan to tell David of his gracious intent towards him. The thought has passed, you see, from God’s secret purpose into God’s revealed word, and now it filters into the heart of David, and David sends it back to God in prayer. Prayer, like our Lord, comes forth from God and returns to God. That is the pedigree and history of all true supplication. It is like the mist which you see in the early morning, rising from the plains towards heaven in the form of clouds, like incense from an altar. How came it there? First of all, the moisture was in the heavens, in the secret treasuries of God. Then came a day when it fell in drops of rain, and did not return void, but watered the earth. Afterwards, when the blessed sun shone forth, it steamed up again, to return to the place from whence it came. The clouds are like the divine decree-who shall enter into the secret place where Jehovah hideth his purposes? The rain is like the word, with its sparkling drops of precious promises, the outcome of the mysterious purposes of God. These revealed blessings we see standing in pools in the Scriptures. Turn to the Book or listen to the Lord’s servants whom he helps to speak, and you shall hear a sound of abundance of rain. This rain watereth the soul of man, and when the warm love of God comes shining on the saturated heart it uprises in earnest petitions. Prayer is never lost, for though the mist which rises in yonder valley may never fall again into the same place, it drops somewhere; and so true prayer, though it come not back into the offerer’s own bosom, is fruitful in good in some way or other. The result of honest hearty prayer may not be distinctly this or that according to your mind or mine, but it is always good; supplication is never wasted, it is preserved in the divine reservoir, and in the time its influence visits the earth and waters it with “the river of God, which is full of water.” When you find a rare flower by the roadside, and wonder how it came there, for it is no indigenous weed but a fair stranger from another clime, it is pleasant to trace out its way to the place it beautifies; and even so when you. find a prayer in your heart, it is gladsome to see how it conies forth from the heart of God, by the word of God, to blossom in the garden of your soul.

III. In the third place IT IS VERY PROFITABLE TO USE A PRAYER WHEN WE FIND IT IN OUR HEART. Notice the phraseology of my text. He says, “Thy servant hath found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.” Not to say this prayer, but to pray this prayer. There is great force in the expression. Some prayers are never prayed, but are like arrows which are never shot from the bow. Scarcely may I call them prayers, for they are such as to form, and matter, and verbiage, but they are said, not prayed. The praying of prayer is the main matter, Sometimes, beloved, we may have a prayer in our hearts and may neglect the voice of the Lord within our soul, and if so we are great losers.

What does praying a prayer mean? It means, first, that you present it to God with fervency. Pray as if you meant it, throw your whole soul into the petition. Entreat the Lord with tears and cries. If you do not prevail at first, yet come to him importunately again and again with the resolve that since he has written the prayer in your heart you will take no denial. Heat your prayers red hot. In naval warfare, in the old time, our men of war fired red hot shot; try that system, for nothing is so powerful in prayer as fervency and importunity.

Pray also spiritually, for the text saith, “I have found it in my heart to pray this prayer unto thee.” It is of no use pray to yourself or to the four walls of your room. Some persons even pray to those who are around them, like the preacher of whose prayer the remark was made that “it was one of the finest prayers that ever was presented to a Boston audience.” I am afraid many prayers are presented to audiences rather than to God. This should not be. Moreover, when you find a prayer in your heart do not talk it over nor say to another, “I feel such and such a desire”-but go and pour it out before God; speak it into the divine ear, realize that God is there as distinctly as if you could see him, for that is the way to make a proper use of the prayer which is in your heart.

Pray with specialty. The text indicates that- “I have found it in my heart to pray this prayer.” Know what you pray. Prayer is not putting your hand into a bag and pulling out what comes first. Oh, no; there must be definite desires and specific requests. Think carefully about it and ask for what you want and for nothing else but what you need. Pray this prayer. David had a promise about his house and his prayer was about his house that God would bless and establish it. Much of what we think to be prayer is really playing at praying. The archers in the English armies of old with their arrows a cloth-yard long, when they met the foe took steady aim, and sorely they galled the foe. Give your little boy his bow and arrow, and what does he do? He shoots at random and sends his arrows away, for he plays at archery. A good deal of praying is of that sort, there is no steadily taking aim at the white and drawing the bow with strength, and watching the arrow with anxiety. Lord, teach us to pray.

We ought to pray, too, dear friends, when we find prayer in our hearts, with much boldness. He says, “I found in my heart to pray,” that is, he had the heart to pray, the courage to pray: the promise influenced him to make bold with God. Some men fail in reverence for God, but far more fail in holy boldness towards God. Men who are mighty for God are generally famous for courage with him. Look at Luther; they say it was wonderful to hear him preach, but a hundred times more so to hear him pray. There was an awful reverence about that heroic man, but there was also such a childlike simplicity of daring that he seemed as though he did really lay hold of God. That is the way: try it in your chamber this afternoon. Be bold with God, find it in your heart to pray this prayer unto him.

And do so promptly. Let promptitude mark your prayer as it did that of David. He did not wait a week or two after he had obtained the promise; he went straight away and sat down before the Lord, began to plead the divine word, and said, “Do as thou hast said.” He found the petition in his heart, and before it could lose its way again he brought it before God. He was studying his soul, and as he observed its movements he saw a prayer lift up its head. “Ah,” said he, “I will seize it,” and he held it fast and presented it before God, and so obtained a blessing.

I suggest, dear friends, to those whose hearts feel touched in the matter, that we should to-day make special supplication to God as to the peace of nations, now so miserably endangered. You will meet as teachers in the school, you will meet in the classes, and others of you will be at home in meditation this afternoon; but you can all in various ways help in the common intercession. At this moment it is upon my heart very heavily to pray this prayer to God, and I wish you would all make a point of joining in it: “Send us peace in our days, good Lord.” Not as politicians, but as followers of Christ, we are bound to entreat our Lord to prevent the cruel war which is now threatened. A curse will surely fall upon all who are causing the strife, but blessed are the peacemakers. I believe that if all Christians would join in pleading with God they would do much more than all the public meetings and all the petitions to the Houses of Parliament or to the Queen will ever accomplish. O Lord’ prevent war, we pray thee. Another thing: during this week the various societies are holding their public meetings, and I suggest, if you find it in your hearts, that you spend a little extra time in praying to God to bless his church and its mission work. There will, also, be meetings held of great importance this week, in connection with certain religious bodies. There are denominations which are sadly diseased with scepticism, but a healthy love for the truth remains with many, and therefore there will come a struggle between the evangelical and the philosophical parties: this week will witness such a struggle. Pray God to send the conquest to the right, to strengthen hesitating brethren, and to give decision to those who have long been too timorous in their action. Pray that power and guidance from on high may be given to those who hold the orthodox faith. I find it in my heart so to pray, and shall be glad to know that others are agreeing with me. Find it in your hearts, too, at this time to pray for the work of this our own church, and I call special attention to the work of our colporteurs. We have now nearly ninety brethren going from village to village, from house to house, selling the word of God, and preaching it to those who in the hamlets might otherwise be left without the gospel. Find it in your hearts to invoke a blessing upon them; and, in fine, if there be anything that is more upon your heart than another, be wise enough to hedge in a quarter of an hour in order to pray the prayer unto the Lord. Shut yourself up and say, “I have business to do with the Master. I feel a call within my ear to speak with the King.” Beloved brethren, when such a season comes you, I would most humbly but most affectionately ask those of you who are benefited by my ministry to whisper my name into the King’s ear, for I have much need of his grace and help. May the Lord accept your petitions, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

12. Essential Points In Prayer No. 2064

“The Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon. And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.”1 Kings 9:2,3

BELOVED friends, it was an exceedingly encouraging thing to Solomon that the Lord should appear to him before the beginning of his great work of building the temple. See in the third chapter of this First Book of the Kings, at the fifth verse, “In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.” Some of us remember how the Lord was with us at the beginning of our life-work, when we started as young men and women newly converted, full of zeal and earnestness, determined to do something for the Lord. How we sought his face!-with what simplicity, with what tenderness of heart, with what dependence upon him and diffidence as to ourselves! We remember, as HE remembers, the love of our espousals-those early days. I cannot forget when the Lord appeared unto me in Gibeon at the first. Truly there are things about the lives of Christian men that would not have been possible if God had not appeared to them at the beginning. If he had not strengthened and tutored them, and given them wisdom beyond what they possess in themselves; if he had not inspirited them; if he had not infused life into them, they had not done what they have already done. It is a priceless blessing to begin with God, and not to lay a stone of the temple of our life-work till the Lord has appeared unto us. I do not know, however, but that it is an equal, perhaps a superior, blessing for the Lord to appear to us after a certain work is done; even as in this case: “The Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.” Solomon had now finished the temple, and he needed another visit from on high. There is great joy in completing a work; and yet there is, to some minds, a great drop, when the once engrossing service ceases to keep the mind upon the stretch. You run up hill, and you have gained the summit; there is no more climbing, for the present, and then you almost wish that you had to struggle again. A work like that of Solomon lasting for seven years must have become a delight to him: to see the house growing, and to mark all the stages of its beauty. And so it is with any special and notable work which we are called to do early in life. We get wedded to it, we are glad to see it grow under our hand; and when at last that particular portion of our service is finished, we feel a kind of loss. We have grown used to the pull upon the collar, we have almost leaned upon it, and we feel a difference when we are at the top of the hill. Personally I never feel exhilaration at a success, but a certain sinking of heart when the tug of war is over. We see the like in the story of God’s greater servants; we note it specially in Elias when he had performed his mighty work on Carmel, and slain the prophets of Baal: he felt an exultation in his spirit for a while, and he ran before the chariot of the king in the joy of his soul; but there came a reaction afterwards of a very painful kind. The case of Solomon is not parallel; and yet I should think that it might have been and probably was so with Solomon, that he was in a condition of special need when the temple was finished. He may have been in peril of pride, if not of depression: in either case it was a remarkable season, and its need must have been remarkable also; “and so the Lord appeared unto Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him in Gibeon.”

Brethren, we want renewed appearances, fresh manifestations, new visitations from on high; and I commend to those of you who are getting on in life, that while you thank God for the past, and look back with joy to his visits to you in your early days, you now seek and ask for a second visitation of the Most High; not that I do not think that you have visitations from God full often, and walk in the light of his countenance; but still, though the ocean is often at flood-twice every day-yet it has its spring-tides. The sun shines whether we see it or not, right though our winter’s fog, and yet it has its summer brightness. If we walk with God constantly, yet are there seasons when he opens to us the very secret of his heart, and manifests himself to us, not only as he does not unto the world, but as he does not at all times to his own favored ones. All days in a palace are not days of banqueting, and all days with God are not so clear and glorious as certain special Sabbaths of the soul in which the Lord unveils his glory. Happy are we if we have once beheld his face; but happier still if he again comes to us in fullness of favor.

I think that we should be seeking those second appearances: we should be crying to God most pleadingly that he would speak to us a second time. We do not want a re-conversion, as some assert. I hope that we do not; if the Lord has kept us, as we should be, steadfast in his fear, we are already possessors of what some call “the higher life.” This we have many of us enjoyed from the very first hour of our spiritual life. We do not need to be converted again; yet we do want that again over our heads the windows of heaven should be opened, that again a Pentecost should be given, and that we should renew our youth like the eagles, to run without weariness, and walk without fainting. The Lord fulfill to everyone of his people to-night his blessing upon Solomon! “The Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.”

Now, what the Lord spoke upon in the commencement of his interview with Solomon concerned his prayer; and as the Lord answered that prayer, and here, in this second appearance, recapitulated the points of it, we may be sure that there was much about that prayer which would make it a model for us. We shall do well to pray after the manner which successful pleaders have followed. In this case we will follow the Lord’s own description of an accepted prayer. I shall use the text to that end briefly in two or three ways.

I. First, OUR PROPER PLACE IN PRAYER. The Lord said, “I have heard thy prayer, and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me.” There is the place to pray-”before me”: that is to say, before the Lord. Let us talk a little about this matter.

“Where’er we seek HIM he is found,And every place is hallowed ground.”

But we should take care that the place is hallowed by our prayer being deliberately and reverently presented before God.

This place is not always found. The Pharisee went up to the temple to pray, and yet, evidently, he did not pray “before God”; so that even in the most holy courts he did not find the place desired. In his own esteem he prayed; but, in his going home to his house without justification, there was evidence that he either had not prayed at all, or that he had not prayed before God. It is not because you pass these portals, and come into these pews, that therefore you are before God. Nay, and if you were to seek the shrines which have been most eminently regarded in the church; if you stood by the site of Jerusalem, if you sought out that little skull-like hill called “Calvary,” and prayed there, or if you went to Olivet, and bowed your knee in Gethsemane, you might not therefore be before God. The nearer the church, sometimes, the farther from God; and in the very center of it, in the midst of the assembly where prayer is wont to be made, you may not be “before God” at all. Praying before God is a more spiritual business than is to be performed by turning to the east or to the west, or bowing the knee, or entering within walls hallowed for ages. Alas! it is easy enough to pray, and not to pray before God. And it is not so easy-it is indeed a thing not to be done except by the power of the Spirit-to “enter into that which is within the vail.” and to stand before the mercy seat, all blood-besprinkled, consciously and really in the presence of the Invisible, to fulfill that precept, “Ye people, pour out your hearts before him.” “Before him” is the place for the soul’s outpouring, and blessed are they that know it and find it!

This blessed place “before God” can be found in public prayer. Solomon’s prayer before God was offered in the midst of a great multitude. The priests stood in their places, and the Levites kept their due order. The people were gathered together, and all the armies of the tribes of Israel stood in the streets of the holy city when Solomon bowed his knee and cried mightily unto his God. It is evident that he was enabled, that day, not to pray to please the people, nor that they might note his eloquent language and be gratified with the appropriate performance; but he was inspired to pray before the Lord.

Ah, brethren! those of us who have to conduct your devotions strive hard that we may be seen of God in secret when heard of men in public; and I am sure that we never pray so rightly or so usefully for you as when we only remember you in a very inferior sense, but seem to be surrounded as with a cloud, enclosed within the secret place of the Most High, even when we stand supplicating aloud for you in the public assembly of God’s people. The same is true of each of you: it is wrong for you, in a prayer-meeting, to pray with a view to an individual of importance, or with the remembrance of those present whose respect you would like to obtain. The mercy-seat is no place for the exhibition of your abilities. More evil still is it to take the opportunity of making personal remarks about others. I have heard of oblique hints having been given in prayer. I am sorry to say that I have even heard of remarks which have been so directly critical and offensive, that one knew what the brother was at, and lamented it. Such a proceeding is altogether objectionable and irreverent. We do not even pray in prayer-meetings to correct doctrinal errors, nor to teach a body of divinity, nor to make remarks upon the errors of certain brethren, nor to impeach them before the Most High. These things should be earnest matters of supplication, but not of a sort of indirect preaching and scolding in prayer. It is conduct worthy of the accuser of the brethren to turn a prayer into an opportunity of finding fault with others. Our prayer must be “before God,” or else it is not an acceptable prayer; and if eye and memory and thought can be shut to the presence of everybody else, except in that minor sense, in which we must remember them in sympathy, then it is in the presence of God that we truly pray; and that, I say, may be done in public, if grace be given. For this we have need to pray, “O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.” But prayer before God can just as well-perhaps more readily-be offered in private, though I am not sure that it is not easily missed even there. You are in your room, where you are accustomed to pray. Do you not find yourself upon your knees repeating goodly words, while your heart is wandering? May you not confess that often the prayer, which has been a matter of habit, has been said as much before the walls of your room, or before the bedpost, as before God? You have not realized his presence: you have not spoken distinctly and directly to him. Although you have observed the Savior’s canon, and have shut to the door, and nobody else has been there, so that you have not prayed in the presence of others; yet you have mainly prayed in your own presence, and God has to your inmost soul been far away. It is poor work merely to talk piously to yourself. “I pour out my soul in me,” says David. There is not much that comes of pouring your heart into your heart, praying your soul into your own soul: it is neither an emptying of self, nor a filling with God: it does but stir up what had been quite as well left as dregs at the bottom. Better far is the course prescribed in that hallowed precept, “Ye people, pour out your heart before him:” turn them bottom upwards, let all run out before God, and so let room be left for something better and more divine. Pouring out your soul within yourself does not come to much; and yet often that is about what our prayer amounts to-a recapitulation of wants, without a grasp of divine supplies, a bemoaning of weakness without a reception of strength; a consciousness of nothingness, but not a plunging into all-sufficiency. Brethren, the main point of supplication is neither to pray in the presence of others, nor yet, first of all, in your own presence, but to present your prayer “before God.”

Now, it is clear that this means that the prayer is to be directed to God. “Well,” says one, “I know that.” I know you do: and yet, my brother, you too often forget it. Like a playful boy, you get your bow and arrows and shoot them anywhere. The way to pray is to take in hand the aforesaid bow and arrows, and-you think I am going to say, shoot with them with all your might; but I am not in such haste. Wait a bit! Yes, draw the string, and fit the arrow to it, but wait, wait! Wait till you have your eye fixed on the target! Wait till you see distinctly the center of the mark! What can be the use of shooting if you have not something to shoot at? Wait, then, till you know what you are going to do. You want to strike the white, to pierce the center of the target. Be sure, then, that you get it well into your eye! Imitate David, who says, “In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” He has fixed the arrow, drawn the bow, and taken deliberate aim, now is the time for the next act; he lets the arrow fly. How well directed! See! he has made a center! He caught the mark with his eye, and therefore he has struck it with his arrow. Oh to pray with a distinct object! Indefinite praying is a waste of breath. It will never do to begin praying, neck or nothing, because the time has come for it. We must think, “I am about to ask of God what I want: I am to speak to the great King of kings, from whom all grace must come: it is to him that my prayer must be directed. What, then, shall I ask at his hands?” Does anybody here suppose that the repeating of certain words out of a book, or of his own making, has any virtue in it? Some seem, by their frequent repetitions of that blessed model of prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, to think that there is a magical charm in that sacred arrangement of words; but, I tell you solemnly, you might as well repeat that perfect prayer backwards as forwards, if your heart is not in it. If your very heart is not in it, and if your soul is not looking Godwards, you profane your Lord’s words, and are guilty of all the greater sin because of their excellence. Make not praying a piece of witchcraft, and your supplications an imitation of the abracadabra of the wizard; else it is vain superstition, and not acceptable supplication. Pray thou distinctly with all thy wits about thee to thy God. Speak thou to him. And hence it becomes needful that we should endeavor in prayer to realize the presence of God. It shall be well put in this way: thou hast prayed well if thou hast spoken to God as a man speaketh to his friend. If thou art as sure that God is there as that thou art there, and perhaps somewhat more sure; if thou art in him, and he in thee, and if thou talkest to him as to one whom thou canst not see, but whom thou canst perceive better than by sight, thou hast prayed well. If thou speakest to him as to one whom thou canst not feel with thy hand, but canst feel with all thy nature, with something better than fingers and hands, perceiving that he is, and knowing that he is hearing thee, and will reward thy diligent seeking, this is praying before God, pleading before a living God, with one who feels and will be moved by what thou feelest, to one who speaks, and will hearken to what thou speakest. Thou art to commune with one who is not like thy fellow-men, who may let thee plead and remain like a block, unmoved by thy pathetic requests; but to a living God, a tender God, sensitive to all the sensations of thy soul. Oh, to come before the living and acting God! Not before a God, lame and impotent; nor before the new God, who is impersonal and dead, but before the true God-God in Christ Jesus! If we did but realize who he is to whom we speak- God, very nigh to us in the person of the Only Begotten, who has taken our nature upon himself, what praying ours would be! And that is the right sort of praying. Oh, that the God of truth may be able, in speaking to each of us, to speak concerning, “Thy prayer and thy supplication which thou hast prayed before me”! Lord, help us to pass through the outer courts, and to enter into thy inner court and speak with thee. Lord, deliver us from staying in the words, but bring thou us into the spirit of prayer; bring thou us near thyself. If there are any here that have never prayed, let their prayer at this time be to one who is close to them, ready to hear them. Do not ask, “What shall I say?” Say to God what you wish to say. What is your desire to-night? Would you be saved? Beg him to save you. Would you be forgiven? Ask forgiveness. “The words,” say you, “tell me the words.” Nay, you need no words. If you have none, look, look to him. Let your heart think out its desires. There is music without words: and there is prayer without words. The soul of prayer is being before God, and desiring before God, who hears without sounds, and understands without expressions. Open your heart; look to him; and ask him to read what you cannot read. Beg him of his great mercy to give you, not even according to your own sense of your requirements, but according to the riches of his mercy in Christ Jesus. You are praying before God when you have realized his presence. The Lord does not require from you that you should express yourself in words. He reads what is there with an omniscient glance, what is written on your heart. To know that he does so, and to plead in that spirit, is prayer before God.

II. I will change the run of our thought for a little while, to notice, with much earnestness, OUR GREAT DESIDERATUM IN PRAYER. It is that which God said that he had given to Solomon. “I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication.”

I have often had occasion to remark, that the wise men of modern times, whose principal characteristic is, that they think so much of themselves, and so very little of anybody else, tell us that prayer is an excellent exercise, good and comforting, and useful; but that we are not to suppose that it has any effect upon God whatever. We enquire of them, “Would you have us go on praying after the information you have given?” “Oh, yes,” they say, “Oh yes, of course it is a pious exercise, a proper and edifying thing. Go on praying, but do not think that God hears.” Brethren, it is evident that they think us idiots. Evidently they consider praying men to be born fools. If it be certain that prayer has no effect upon God, my brother, I would just as lief whistle when I rise in the morning as pray, and I would as soon close my eyes at night in dumb silence as run over a set of ineffectual words. There could be no good in prayer if it should be proved that it never went beyond the room in which it was uttered. When it ceases to be accepted by the Lord, and honored by his response, we shall abandon it, of course. If there is neither hearing, nor answering, we shall have reduced ourselves to the level of the worshippers of Baal, if we continue to cry; and we have not come to that yet. We are obliged to you wise men for your compliments; but we shall not follow your absurd advice! Your pretty praises of our devotion as a pleasing and instructive exercise are quite lost upon us, since they involve a covert insult. You may take back your compliments, if you please; for our opinion of your wisdom is almost equal to your opinion of ours.

But, brethren, what we desire in prayer is really to be heard. If I pray, I pray not to the winds, nor to the waves, but to God; and if he does not hear me, I have lost my breath.

The first thing the soul desires in prayer is audience with God. If the Lord do not hear us, we have gained nothing. And what an honor it is, if you come to think of it, to have audience with God! The frail, feeble, undeserving creature is permitted to stand in the august presence of the God of the whole earth, and the Lord regards that poor creature as if there were nothing else for him to observe, and bends his ear and his heart to listen to that creature’s cry. It is necessary to a living prayer-to feel that we are speaking to God, and that God is hearing us.

You notice, that generally, in the Psalms, David says very little about God’s answering; but he always speaks about God’s hearing, and he asks that he would hear. That he should deign to hear us is quite enough, quite enough from such a God as he is. If I can get my petition placed in his hand, I am fully satisfied. If I can pour my desire into his ear, and he has once observed it, all further fear is removed. Your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of these things, and you may rest perfectly content; for, in coming into his presence, you have done according to his command, and therefore his promise holds good to you. The first thing wanted, then, is that the Lord should hear.

But we want more than that: we want that he should accept. It were a painful thing to be permitted to speak to a great friend, and then for him to stand austere and stern, and say, “I have heard what you have to say. Go your way.” We ask not this of God. We beg him kindly and graciously to accept our poor confessions, petitions, supplications, and adorations; and if he does but look and smile, if he does but say one word into our soul which implies, “I have accepted thy prayer,” what a joy it is! To have brought an offering which the Lord has accepted, this is the sweetness and delight of supplication!

Still, there is a third thing which we want, which God gave to Solomon, and that was an answer. He asked the Lord to hallow the house, and the Lord did hallow the house. And as to you and me in prayer, while there are some things which we must always pray for with a great deal of diffidence, evermore saying emphatically, “Not as I will, but as thou wilt;” yet are there certain other boons which we are encouraged to pray for with importunity, being resolved to have them. Those are spiritual blessings, covenant blessings, distinctly promised, and evidently necessary: these we may ask for without any question, using a sacred importunity, and refusing to let the angel go unless he blesses us. On matters promised by God in his Word we may come again and again;-knocking at the Lord’s door until he awakes and gives us the loaves that we seek for our hungry and fainting friend. Oh, for more holy boldness! Oh, for more assured confidence! We have need to believe that we have the petitions that we ask of him. We must ask in faith, nothing wavering, or we may not expect to receive anything of the Lord.

Oh, yes, we long to be heard and answered; and we cannot be satisfied to pray unless we perceive that prayer is effective in the courts above, That is our desideratum in prayer.

III. This makes me mention, thirdly, OUR ASSURANCE or ANSWER TO PRAYER. Can we have an assurance that God has heard and answered prayer? Solomon had it. The Lord said unto him, “I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me.” Does the Lord ever say that to us? I think so. Let us consider how he does so. I think that he says it to us very often in our usual faith. I hope that I speak for many of you when I say that we constantly pray believingly. It is habitual with me to expect God to answer me. I go to him very simply, and ask for what I want; and, if I did not have that which I humbly sought for, I should be greatly surprised. When I do have it, I reckon it as a matter of course, for the Lord has promised to answer prayer, and it is certain that he will keep his promise. I am speaking now about the daily mercies, and the daily trials, and the ordinary events of life: in these matters God is sure to answer prayer, and our faith, in its ordinary operation, is, to our hearts, the voice of God, saying, “I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication.” But sometimes you require strong confidence. You have to solicit some extraordinary blessing. You get to a place like that to which Jacob came, when common prayer was not sufficient. When Esau was coming to meet him with an armed force, he must have a night’s prayer: he must gather up all his courage at Jabbok, he must wrestle with the angel and win the divine blessing. At such times, it is a stronger faith than usual, brought into exercise, by necessity, which assures the soul of the blessing. “According to thy faith be it unto thee.” If we can trust God-for that is the thing-we shall have the thing we seek. Faith is not saying, “I know that I have it,” when you really have it not. That would be telling yourself a lie. Here is a man who says, “Believe that you are sanctified, and you are in a moment sanctified.” But you are not. You may believe a lie in believing that, and be, perhaps, less sanctified than you were before you believed it, and ten times more proud, and thus far more under the influence of Satan. To believe in God that he will sanctify me, and that he is sanctifying me, is a very different thing from believing that I am already sanctified. I believe that God will supply my needs, but I do not believe that I have got the Bank of England in my pocket. If I did believe it, I should not find it there when I put my hand to feel for it. Faith is not believing fanatically, but believing the truth. There is a wonderful difference between believing what your fancy says, and believing what God has distinctly promised. Faith and fancy are two very different things. God keep us from the falsehood of folly, and lead us into the truth of wisdom! I will believe anything, however monstrous it may appear, if God says it. I will believe nothing, however desirable, merely because my own fancy imagines it, or because your heated brain suggests it. Strong faith often brings with it a conviction within the soul which nothing can shake; a conviction most sure, and yet most reasonable, since it is inspired by the Spirit of God who bears witness only to the truth, and not to dreams. To the man’s inner consciousness it is as though he heard the voice of God, saying, “I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication.”

Sometimes this comes in the form of a comfortable persuasion. Have you never known what it is to leave off prayer when you are in the middle of it, and say, “I am heard: I am heard”? Have you not felt that you needed not to cry any longer, for you had gained your suit, and must rather begin to praise than continue to pray? When a man goes to a bank with a cheque, and he gets the money, he does not stand loafing about the counter: he goes off about his business. And oftentimes before God, he that is prepared to be a long time in prayer if it should be necessary, feels that he must be brief in petition and long in thanksgiving. He rises from his knees with the persuasion, “I need not ask any more: I am heard;” and he goes about his business, to do something more needful and seasonable than praying; for it is always better to serve God in a pressing practical duty than it is to continue to pray when prayer has no longer any reasonableness in it, seeing that you are already heard. If God has given you the blessing, why ask for it any further? “The Lord says to Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward;” and that going forward was a better thing than praying, now that praying had had its day. So there comes a comfortable assurance at times that it is even so, and you go your way rejoicing. This inward persuasion is no fanatical imagining, nor excitement of the brain, but a work of the Holy Spirit, which none can imitate, and only the receiver can understand.

The Lord also gives to his people a manifest preparation for the blessing. He prepares them to receive it. Their expectation is raised, so that they begin to look out for the blessing, and make room for it; and when it is so, you may be sure that it is coming. God never brought you to a well, and put a bucket and rope in your way, without intending to fill that bucket when you let it down. When the thirsty soil has opened all its mouths to drink in the rain of heaven that rain always comes. When the ears of wheat are ready for the sun to ripen them, the heat of harvest is near. When a man of God so looks for the wind of the Spirit that he spreads the sails of hope, the breeze is sure to blow. Brother, it is want of preparation in you that hinders the blessing. “He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” “Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels.” But when the Lord has given you an evident preparation for the blessing, the blessing is already on the way, the shadow of it is resting upon you. In that preparation the Lord virtually says: “I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication.”

Actual observation also breeds in us a solid confidence that our suit is succeeding. Sometimes God gives us an assurance that he has heard our prayer when he makes us look back and observe the past. How he has answered us! He changes not; he hears us still. O sirs, I have no patience with those who say that God does not hear prayer, for my daily experience proves the fact. I would not lie even under the notion of honoring God; but I will speak what I know. Throughout life it has been my habit to wait upon God about many things, and especially about extraordinary necessities which have arisen out of the demands of the great institutions committed to me. I shall not stay to tell the stories of the Lord’s supplies in answer to prayer. Some of you know them in a measure; but, in very truth, the Lord has heard my prayers as distinctly as if he had rent the heavens, and put out his right hand filled with good. Many of you could bear similar witness, could you not? The fact that the Lord has heard us in the past speaks in our souls, and fills us with the assurance that he will hear us yet again. Memory emphasizes the voice of the Lord, which saith, “I have heard thy prayer; I have heard thy supplication, therefore trust me with all thine heart. Have I not always heard thy prayer? When did I refuse thee? My beloved one, when did I reject thee? Have I not always hearkened to thee? In the hour of thy distress, have I not delivered thee? In the times of thy need, have I not supplied thee? I have heard thy prayer. Go in peace. Weep no more. Let not thy soul be troubled. All is well, for I am on the throne of grace, and my face is towards thee.”

IV. Now I have come to the end of what I had to say, with this one sole exception. Let me speak of OUR SPECIAL APPLICATION OF PRAYER. In the case of Solomon prayer turned in one direction, and in that direction I want to turn it now. You learn what Solomon’s prayer was when you hear how God fulfilled it. God said to him, “I have hallowed this house which thou hast built, and put my name there for ever, and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.” Last night the members of this church met in their annual church meeting,* and we had great joy and thankfulness for all the mercy which God has made to pass before us. I have just completed thirty-three years of ministry here-the third of a century-with unbroken blessing. We can say that all these years have passed with no division and no strife among us, with nothing but perpetual benedictions from the Lord God of our salvation. Blessed be his name! Our prayer is again that the Lord himself would hallow this house which we have built. We ask this in no superstitious way. Bricks and mortar and iron and stone are nothing to us. The qualities of holiness do not adhere to material substances, but to hearts and to souls and acts; yet we ask our Lord to hallow this Tabernacle with his presence still more and more. If that were gone, Ichabod would be our bitter cry! The glory would indeed have departed. We want our Lord to hallow it by his favorable regard, that when we worship he will accept our worship, and hear our prayers and our praises. We want him to hallow it by his working among us in many more conversions. It was a joyous time to me when I saw the enquirer come who was number ten thousand: that is long ago, and we have reached a far higher number now, but all is the work of our gracious God. We shall never bring in another true convert unless we have God’s presence! O Lord Jesus, we would constrain thee saying, “Abide with us.” The Lord bless his people in this house of prayer in the breaking of bread, in the ordinance of baptism, in the proclamation of the gospel, and in all their gatherings together. O Lord, we pray thee hallow this house. We do pray it from our inmost souls. You that have found our services to be hallowed to you in days that are past cannot bear the idea of failure and famine in the future. May the Lord say to us to-night, “I have hallowed this house which thou hast built.”

We want that he should hallow it next in this way: “to put my name there for ever.” “For ever.” As long as there shall be any such house, or need of such a house, may his name be here. My venerable predecessor, Dr. Rippon, whom I never saw, I have been informed, was wont to pray for a certain successor of his whom he seemed always to have in his mind’s thoughts. He frequently prayed for the man whom the Lord would send among the people of his care after his own decease. In a letter that I have seen, which he wrote to a friend, I cannot but somehow see myself; as in the glimmer of the firelight he saw the person who would follow him, and carry on his work. After sixty years of service in this church, as the old man grew older, he used to be praying about this successor more and more. I think that I may begin to pray after his example, that as long as there shall be the need for a house of God, the name of God may be honored in this Tabernacle, and may faithful men proclaim his salvation in the power of the Holy Ghost. Shall there stand here one day a man that denies the Deity of my Lord? God forbid! [“ Amen.”] Shall there be found here one that shall preach modern thought, and give up the old, old gospel? God forbid! [“Amen.”] Let the house be wrapped in flames, and every ash be blown away by the winds, sooner than that any shall preach from this pulpit any other gospel than that ye have received. [“Amen.” “Amen.”] I thank you for those loud Amens. May God himself say, Amen. May the name of our covenant God be set here for ever, and no other name. And, then, Solomon prayed also, and God heard him, that the eye of the Lord might be there. That was Solomon’s prayer, and God greatly improved upon it, for he said that his eye and his heart should be there perpetually. Thus the Lord hears our prayers in a better sense than that in which we offer them. We pray that his eye may be upon us, and he adds, “It shall be so, and with my eye my heart also shall be there.” Oh, that the eye of the Lord might be upon this house, and upon this church, to watch over it, to keep it from all harm! But may his heart also be with us, to fill us with his divine life and love, and to make us know his inner self! Oh for the love of God to be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost! May we know that God’s feelings of affection and delight are towards us! This shall be our joy unspeakable.

Now, brothers and sisters, who happen to be worshipping with us on this occasion, but are not members with us, I entreat you kindly to pray for this house and this church. I would, in return, pray for your place of worship, and for the church to which you belong. You will, however, readily forgive us if we think, just now, after our thirty-three years, of this particular church and its interests. We must praise the Lord for all his mercy towards us. Grace personally received must be personally acknowledged. You see, we are at home, and we must think of our own home. I can truly sing,

“Here my best friends, my kindred dwell,Here God my Savior reigns.”

“I dwell among my own people,” said the Shunammite; and there is no joy like it for a Christian minister and a Christian church member-to feel that he dwells among his own people, and is happy with them. To be driven from church to church, as some are, is a wretched business. To be like others, changing their views as often as the moon; happy nowhere, miserable everywhere, agreeing with nobody, not even with themselves, is a poor business. Persons of that kind, I hope, will not join this church just yet, or, if they do, may the Lord convert them as they come in. As for us, we love each other, and our united prayer is that the eye and the heart of God may be with us and all his people perpetually. The Lord bless you, dear friends, for Christ’s sake! Amen.

* Feb. 9, 1887. Add two years of mercy to the record, and the same reflections will hold good. Oh, that we may now receive a second blessing, and learn how opportune is the subject to the occasion of the pastor’s anticipated return to a renewed period of personal ministry!

Letter From Mr. Spurgeon

DEAR FRIENDS,-My injuries are far greater than I supposed. It will take some time before foot, mouth, head, and nerves can be right again. What a mercy that I was not smashed quite up! The angels did their work well, for another stone would have brought me to mine end.

Through what a stupor I have passed! Yet in a day or two I shall be none the worse. I am overcome with gratitude. May I be spared to keep my own footing to the end, and let the down-graders know how terrible is a fall from the high places of the Lord’s truth!

13. Elijah’s Plea No. 1832

“Let it be known that I have done all these things at thy word.”1 Kings 17:36

THE acts of Elijah were very singular. It had not been known from the foundations of the earth that a man should shut up the doors of the rain for the space of three years. Yet Elijah suddenly leaped upon the scene, announced the judgment of the Lord, and then disappeared for a time. When he reappears, at the bidding of God, he orders Ahab to gather the priests of Baal; and to put to the test the question as to whether Baal or Jehovah was indeed God. Bullocks shall be slain and laid upon the wood without fire; and the God who shall answer by fire shall be determined to be the one living and true God, the God of Israel. We might question within ourselves what right the prophet had to restrain the clouds, or to put God’s honor under test. Suppose the Lord had not willed to answer him by fire; had he any right to make the glory of God hang upon such terms as he proposed? The answer is that he had done all these things according to God’s word. It was no whim of his to chastise the nation with a drought. It was no scheme of his, concocted in his own brain, that he should put the Godhead of Jehovah or of Baal to the test by a sacrifice to be consumed by miraculous fire. Oh, no! If you read the life of Elijah through, you will see that whenever he takes a step it is preceded by, the word of the Lord came unto Elijah the Tishbite.” He never acts of himself; God is at his back. He moves according to the divine will, and he speaks according to the divine teaching; and he pleads this with the Most High, — “I have done all these things at thy word; now let it be known that it is so.” It makes the character of Elijah stand out, not as an example of reckless daring, but as the example of a man of sound mind. Faith in God is true wisdom: childlike confidence in the word of God is the highest form of common-sense. To believe him that cannot lie and trust in him that cannot fail, is a kind of wisdom that none but fools will laugh at. The wisest of men must concur in the opinion that it is always best to place your reliance where it will certainly be justified, and always best to believe that which cannot possibly be false.

Elijah had so believed, and acted on his belief, and now he naturally expects to be justified in what he has done. An ambassador never dreams that his authorized acts will be repudiated by his king. If a man acts as your agent and does your bidding, the responsibility of his acts lies with you, and you must back him up. It were, indeed, an atrocious thing to send a servant on an errand, and, when he faithfully performed it to the letter, to repudiate your sending him. It is not so with God. If we will only so trust him as to do as he bids us, he will never fail us; but he will see us through, though earth and hell should stand in the way. It may not be to-day, nor to-morrow, but as surely as the Lord liveth, the time shall come when he that trusted him shall have joy of his confidence.

It seems to me that Elijah’s plea is to obedient saints a firm ground for prayer, and to those who cannot say that they have acted according to God’s word, it is a solemn matter for question.

I. To begin with, this is A FIRM GROUND FOR PRAYER. You are a minister of God, or a worker in the cause of Christ, and you go forth and preach the gospel with many tears and prayers, and you continue to use all means, such as Christ has ordained: do you say to yourself, “May I expect to have fruit of all this?” Of course you may. You are not sent on a frivolous errand: you are not bidden to sow dead seed that will never spring up. But when that anxiety weighs heavily upon your heart, go you to the mercy-seat with this as one of your arguments, “Lord, I have done according to thy word. Now let it be seen that it is even so. I have preached thy word, and thou hast said, ‘It shall not return unto me void.’ I have prayed for these people, and thou hast said, ‘The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much’; let it be seen that this is according to thy word.” Or, if you are a teacher, you can say, “I brought my children in supplication before thee, and I have gone forth, after studying thy Word, to teach them, to the best of my ability, the way of salvation. Now, Lord, I claim it of thy truth that thou shouldest justify my teaching, and my expectation, by giving me to see the souls of my children saved by thee, through Jesus Christ, thy Son.” Do you not see that you have a good argument, if the Lord has set you to do this work? He has, as it were, bound himself by that very fact to support you in the doing of it; and if you, with holy diligence and carefulness, do all these things according to his word, then you may come with certainty to the throne of grace, and say unto him, “Do as thou hast said. Hast thou not said, ‘He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him’? Lord I have done that. Give me my sheaves. Thou has said, ‘Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.’ Lord, I have done that; and therefore I entreat thee fulfill thy promise to me.” You may plead in this fashion with the same boldness which made Elias say in the presence of all the people, “Let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I have done all these things at thy word.”

Next, I would apply this teaching to a whole church. I am afraid many churches of Christ are not prospering. The congregations are thin, the church is diminishing, the prayer-meeting scantily attended, spiritual life low. If I can conceive of a church in such a condition which, nevertheless, can say to God, “We have done all these things at thy word,” I should expect to see that church soon revived in answer to prayer. The reason why some churches do not prosper is, because they have not done according to God’s word. They have not even cared to know what God’s Word says. Another book is their standard. A man is their leader and legislator, instead of the inspired Word of God. Some churches are doing little or nothing for the conversion of sinners. But any man, in any church, who can go before God, and say, “Lord, we have had among us the preaching of the gospel; and we have earnestly prayed for the blessing; we have gathered about thy minister, and we have held him up in the arms of prayer and faith; we have, as individual Christians, sought out each one his particular service, we have gone forth each one to bring in souls to thee, and we have lived in godliness of life by the help of thy grace, now, therefore prosper thy cause,” shall find it a good plea Real prosperity must come to any church that walks according to Christ’s rules, obeys Christ’s teaching, and is filled with Christ’s Spirit. I would exhort all members of churches that are in a poor way just now, to see to it that all things are done at God’s word, and then hopefully wait in holy confidence. The fire from heaven must come: the blessing cannot be withheld.

The same principle may be applied also to any individual believers who are in trouble through having done right. It happens often that a man feels, “I could make money, but I must not; for the course proposed would be wrong. Such a situation is open, but it involves what my conscience does not approve. I will rather suffer than I will make gain by doing anything that is questionable.” It may be that you are in great trouble distinctly through obedience to God. Then, you are the man above all others who may lay this case before the Most High: “Lord, I have done all these things at thy word, and thou hast said, ‘I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.’ I beseech thee interpose for me.” Somehow or other God will provide for you. If he means you to be further tried, he will give you strength to bear it; but the probabilities are that now he has tested you, he will bring you forth from the fire as gold.

“Do good and know no fear,For so thou in the land shalt dwell,And God thy food prepare,”

Once again. I would like to apply this principle to this seeking sinner. You are anxious to be saved. You are attentive to the word, and your heart says, “Let me know what this salvation is, and how to come at it, for I will have it whatever stands in the way.” You have heard Jesus say, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate.” You have heard his bidding, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth to life eternal.” You long to enter the strait gate, and eat of the meat which endureth; you would give worlds for such a boon. Thou hast well spoken, my friend. Now, listen: — thou canst not have heaven through thy doings, as a matter of merit. There is no merit possible to thee, for thou hast sinned, and art already condemned. But God has laid down certain lines upon which he has promised to meet thee, and to bless thee. East thou followed those lines? For if thou hast, he will not be false to thee. It is written, — “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” — can you come before God, and say, “I have believed and have been baptized”? then you are on firm pleading ground. It is written again, — “Whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall have mercy.” When you have confessed them and forsaken them, you have a just claim upon the promise of God, and you can say to him, “Lord, fulfill this word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. There is no merit in my faith, or my baptism, or my repentance, or my forsaking of sin; yet as thou hast put thy promise side by side with these things, and I have been obedient to thee therein, I now come to thee, and say, ‘Prove thine own truth, for I have done all these things at thy word.’” No sinner will come before God at last, and say, “I trusted as thou didst bid me trust, and yet I am lost.” It is impossible. Thy blood, if thou art lost, will be on thine own head; but thou shalt never be able to lay thy soul’s damnation at the door of God. He is not false: it is thou that art false.

You see, then, how the principle can be applied in prayer: “I have done these things at thy word; therefore, O Lord, do as thou hast said.”

II. We shall go a little over the same ground while I ask you to put yourselves through your paces by way of SELF-EXAMINATION as to whether or not you have done all these things at God’s word. First, let every worker here who has not been successful answer this question — Have you done all these things at God’s word? Come. Have you preached the gospel? Was it the gospel? Was it Christ you preached, or merely something about Christ? Come. Did you give the people bread, or did you give them plates to put the bread on, and knives to cut the bread with? Did you give them drink, or did you give them the cup that had been near the water? Some preaching is not gospel; it is a knife that smells of the cheese, but it is not cheese. See to that matter.

If you preached the gospel, did you preach it rightly? That is to say, did you state it affectionately, earnestly, clearly, plainly? If you preach the gospel in Latinized language, the common people will not know what it means — and if you use great big academy words and dictionary words, the market people will be lost while they are trying to find out what you are at. You cannot expect God to bless you unless the gospel is preached in a very simple way. Have you preached the truth lovingly, with all your heart, throwing your very self into it, as if beyond everything you desired the conversion of those you taught? Has prayer been mixed with it? Have you gone into the pulpit without prayer? Have you come out of it without prayer? Have you been to the Sabbath-school without prayer? Have you come away from it without prayer? If so, since you failed to ask for the blessing, you must not wonder if you do not get it.

And another question — Has there been an example to back your teaching? Brethren, have we lived as we have preached? Sisters, have you lived as you have taught in your classes? These are questions we ought to answer, because perhaps God can reply to us, “No, you have not done according to my word. It was not my gospel you preached: you were a thinker, and you thought out your own thoughts, and I never promised to bless your thoughts, but only my revealed truth. You spoke without affection; you tried to glorify yourself by your oratory; you did not care whether souls were saved or not.” Or suppose that God can point to you, and say, “Your example was contrary to your teaching. You looked one way, but you pulled another way.” Then there is no plea in prayer: is there? Come, let us alter. Let us try to rise to the highest pitch of obedience by the help of God’s Spirit: not that we can merit success, but that we can command it if we do but act according to God’s bidding. Paul planteth, and Apollos watereth, and God giveth the increase.

And now let me turn to a church, and put questions to that church. A certain church does not prosper. I wish that every church would let this question go through all its membership: do we as a church acknowledge the headship of Christ? Do we acknowledge the Statute-Book of Christ — the one Book which alone and by itself is the religion of a Christian man? Do we as a church seek the glory of God? Is that our main and only object? Are we travailing in birth for the souls of the people that live near us? Are we using every scriptural means to enlighten them with the gospel? Are we a holy people? Is our example such as our neighbors may follow? Do we endeavor, even in meat and drink, to do all to the glory of God? Are we prayerful? Oh, the many churches that give up their prayer-meetings, because prayer is not in them! How can they expect a blessing?

Are we united? Oh, brothers, it is a horrible thing when church members talk against one another, and even slander one another, as though they were enemies rather than friends. Can God bless such a church as that? Let us search through and through the camp, lest there be an Achan, whose stolen wedge and Babylonian garment, hidden in his tent, shall bind the hands of the Almighty so that he cannot fight for his people. Let every church see to itself in this.

Next I speak to Christian people who have fallen into trouble through serving God. I put it to them, but I want to ask them a few questions. Are you quite sure that you did serve God in it? You know there are men who indulge crotchets, and whims, and fancies. God has not promised to support you in your whims. Certain people are obstinate and will not submit to what everybody must bear who has to earn his bread in a world like this. If you are a mere mule, and get the stick, I must leave you to your reward; but I speak to men of understanding. Be as stern as a Puritan against everything that is wrong, but be supple and yieldable to everything that involves self-denial on your part. God will bear us through if the quarrel be his quarrel, but if it is our own quarrel, why then we may help ourselves. There is a deal of difference between being pig-headed and being steadfast. To be steadfast, as a matter of principle in truth which is taught by God’s Word is one thing; but to get a queer idea into your heads is quite another.

Besides, some men are conscientious about certain things, but they have not an all-round conscience. Some are conscientious about not taking less, but they are not conscientious about giving less. Certain folks are conscientious about resting on the Sabbath; but the other half of the command is, “Six days shalt thou labor,” and they do not remember that portion of the law. I like a conscience which works fairly and impartially: but if your conscience gives way for the sake of your own gain or pleasure, the world will think that it is a sham, and they will not be far from the mark. But if, through conscientiousness, you should be a sufferer, God will bear you through. Only examine and see that your conscience is enlightened by the Spirit of God.

And now to conclude. I want to address the seeking sinner. Some are longing to find peace, but they cannot reach it; and I want them to see whether they have not been negligent in some points so that they would not be able to say with Elijah, “I have done all these things at thy word.” Do I need to say that you cannot be saved by your works? Do I need to repeat it over and over again that nothing you do can deserve mercy? Salvation must be the free gift of God. But this is the point. God will give pardon to a sinner, and peace to a troubled heart, on certain lines. Are you on those lines wholly? If so, you will have peace; and if you have not that peace, something or other has been omitted. To begin with, the first thing is faith. Dost thou believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Dost thou believe that he has risen from the dead? Dost thou trust thyself wholly, simply, heartily, once for all, with him? Then it is written, — “He that believeth in him hath everlasting life.” Go and plead that. “I have no peace,” says one. Hast thou unfeignedly repented of sin? Is thy mind totally changed about sin, so that what thou didst once love thou dost now hate, and that which thou did at once hate thou dost now love? Is there a hearty loathing, and giving up, and forsaking of sin? Do not deceive yourself. You cannot be saved in your sins; you are to be saved from your sins. You and your sins must part, or else Christ and you will never be joined. See to this. Labour to give up every sin, and turn from every false way, else your faith is but a dead faith, and will never save you. It may be that you have wronged a person, and have never made restitution. Mr. Moody did great good when he preached restitution. If we have wronged another we ought to make it up to him. We ought to return what we have stolen, if that be our sin. A man cannot expect peace of conscience till, as far as in him lies, he has made amends for any wrong he has done to his fellow-men. See to that, or else perhaps this stone may lie at your door, and because it is not rolled away you may never enter into peace.

It may be, my friend, that you have neglected prayer. Now, prayer is one of those things without which no man can find the Lord. This is how we seek him, and if we do not seek him how shall we find him? If you have been neglectful in this matter of prayer, you cannot say, “I have done all these things at thy word.” May the Lord stir you up to pray mightily, and not to let him go except he bless you! In waiting upon the Lord he will cause you to find rest to your soul.

Possibly, however, you may be a believer in Christ, and you may have no peace because you are associated with ungodly people, and go with them to their follies, and mix with them in their amusements. You see you cannot serve God and Mammon. Thus saith the Lord, “Come out from among them: be ye separate: touch not the unclean thing, and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” I know a man who sits in this place: he is probably here to-night: and concerning him I am persuaded that the only thing that keeps him from Christ is the company with which he mingles. I will not say that his company is bad in itself, but it is bad to him; and if there be anything that is right in itself, yet if to me it becomes ruinous, I must give it up. We are not commanded to cut off warts and excrescences, but Jesus bids us cut off right arms, and pluck out right eyes — good things in themselves, — if they are stumbling-blocks in our way so that we cannot get at Christ. What is there in the world that is worth the keeping if it involves me in the loss of my soul? Away with it. Hence many things which are lawful to another man, perhaps, to you may not be expedient because they are injurious. Many things cause no harm to the bulk of men, and yet to some one man they would be the most perilous things, and therefore he should avoid them. Be a law to yourselves, and keep clear of everything that keeps you away from the Savior.

Perhaps, however, you say, “Well, as far as I know, I do keep out of all ill associations, and I am trying to follow the Lord.” Let me press you with a home-question, — will you be obedient to Jesus in everything?

If you would have Christ for a Savior, you must also take him for a King. Therefore it is that he puts it to you “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Will the baptism save me? Assuredly not, for you have no right to be baptized until you are saved by faith in Jesus Christ, but remember, if Christ gives you the command — if you accept him as a King — you are bound to obey him. If instead of saying “Be baptized” he had simply said, “Put a feather in your cap,” you might have asked, “Will putting a Feather in my cap save me?” No, but you are bound to do it because he bids you. If he had said, “Put a stone in your pocket, and carry it with you”; if that were Christ’s command, it would be needful that you take the stone, and carry it with you. The less there seems to be of importance about a command, often the more hinges upon it. I have seen a rebellious boy, to whom his Father has said, “Sir, pick up that stick. Pick up that stick.” There is no very great importance about the command, and so the youth sullenly refuses to obey. “Do you hear, sir? Pick up that stick.” No: he will not. Now, if it had been a great thing that he had been bidden to do, which was somewhat beyond his power, it would not have been so clear an evidence of his rebellion when he refused to do it, as it is when it is but a little and trifling thing, and yet he refuses to obey. Therefore, I lay great stress upon this — that you who do believe in Jesus Christ should do according to his word. Say, “Lord what wouldest thou have me to do? Be it what it may, I will do it, for I am thy servant.” I want you, if you would be Christ’s, to be just like the brave men that rode at Balaclava.

“Yours not to reason why;Yours but to do and die” —

if it need be, if Jesus calls you thereto. Be this your song —

“Through floods and flames if Jesus lead,I’ll follow where he goes.”

That kind of faith which at the very outset cries, “I shall not do that, it is not essential”; and then goes on to say, “I do not agree with that, and I do not agree with the other”; is no faith at all. In that case it is you that is master, and not Christ. In his own house you are beginning to alter his commands. “Oh,” says one, “but as to baptism: I was baptized, you know, a great many years ago, when I was an infant.” Say you so? You have heard of Mary when her mistress said, “Mary go into the drawing-room, and sweep it and dust it.” Her mistress went into the drawing-room, and found it dusty. She said, “Mary, did you not sweep the room, and dust it?” “Well, ma’am, yes I did: only I dusted it first, and then I swept it.” That was the wrong order, and spoiled the whole; and it will never do to put Christ’s commands the other way upwards, because then they mean just nothing. We ought to do what he bids us, as he bids us, when he bids us, in the order in which he bids us. It is ours simply to be obedient, and when we are so we may remember that to believe Christ and to obey Christ is the same thing, and often in Scripture the same word that might be read “believe,” might be read “obey.” He is the Author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him, and that is to all them that believe on him Trust him then right heartily, and obey him right gladly. You can then go to him in the dying hour, and say, “Lord, I have done all these things at thy word. I claim no merit, but I do claim that thou keep thy gracious promise to me, for thou canst not run back from one word which thou hast spoken.” God bless you, beloved, for Christ’s sake.

14. Peter's Shortest Prayer No. 3186

A Sermon Published On Thursday,February 24th, 1910,Delivered By C. H. Spurgeon,At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington,On Thursday Evening, October 2nd, 1873

“Lord, save me.” Matthew 14:30

I am going to talk about the characteristics of this prayer in the hope that there may be many, who have never yet prayed aright, who may make this their own prayer to-night, so that from many a person here present this cry may silently go up, “Lord, save me.”

Where did Peter pray this prayer? It was not in a place set apart for public worship, or in his usual place for private prayer; but he prayed this prayer just as he was sinking in the water. He was in great peril, so he cried out, “Lord, save me.” It is well to assemble with God’s people for prayer if you can; but if you cannot go up to his house, it matters little, for prayer can ascend to him from anywhere all over the world. It is well to have a special spot where you pray at home; probably most of us have a certain chair by which we kneel to pray, and we feel that we can talk to God most freely there. At the same time, we must never allow ourselves to become the slaves even of such a good habit as; that, and must always remember that, if we really want to find the Lord by prayer, —

“Where’er we seek him, he is found,And every place is hallowed ground.”

We may pray to God when engaged in any occupation if it is a lawful one; and if it is not, we have no business to be in it. If there is anything we do over which we cannot pray, we ought never to dare to do it again; and if there is any occupation concerning which we have to say, “We could not pray while engaged in it,” it is clear that the occupation is a wrong one. The habit of daily prayer must be maintained. It is well to have regular hours of devotion, and to resort to the same place for prayer, as far as possible; still, the spirit of prayer is better even than the habit of prayer. It is better to be able to pray at all times than to make it a rule to pray at certain times, and seasons. A Christian is more fully grown in grace when he prays about everything shall he would be if he only prayed under certain conditions and circumstances. I always feel that there is something wrong if I go without prayer for even half an hour in the day. I cannot understand how a Christian man can go from morning to evening without prayer. I cannot comprehend how he lives, and how he fights the battle of life without asking the guardian care of God while the arrows of temptation are flying so thickly around him. I cannot imagine how he can decide what to do in times of perplexity, how he can see his own imperfections or the faults of others without feeling constrained to say, all day long, “O Lord, guide me, O Lord, forgive me; O Lord, bless my friend!” I cannot think how he can be continually receiving mercies from the Lord without saying, “God be thanked for this new token of his grace! Blessed be the name of the Lord for what he is doing for me in his abounding mercy! O Lord, still remember me with the favor that thou showest unto thy people!” Do not be content, deal brethren and sisters in Christ, unless you call pray everywhere and at all times, and so obey the apostolic injunction, “Pray without ceasing.”

I have already reminded you, dear friends, that Peter prayed his prayer when he was in circumstances of imminent danger: Beginning to sink, he cried, saying, “Lord, save me!” “But,” asks someone, “ought he not to have prayed before?” Of course he ought; but if he had not done so, it, was not too late? Do not say, concerning any trouble, “Now I am so deeply in it, I cannot go to God about it.” Why not? “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” It would have been well if the disciples had prayed before the first rough breath of the tempest began to toss their little barque, yet it was not too late to pray when the vessel seemed as if it must go down. As long as you have a heart to pray, God has an ear to hear. Look at. Peter; he is “beginning to sink.” The water is up to his knees, it is up to his waist, it is up to his neck, but it is not yet too late for him to cry, “Lord, save me!” and he has no sooner said it, than the hand of Jesus is stretched out to catch him, and to guide him to the ship. So, Christian, cry to God though the devil tells you it is no use to cry; cry to God even if you are beneath the tempter’s foot. Say to Satan, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise;” but do not forget to cry unto the Lord. Cry to God for your children even when they are most ungodly, when their ungodliness almost breaks your heart. Cry to God on behalf of those whom you are teaching in the Sunday-school; even when you seem to think that their characters are developing in the worst possible form, still pray for them. Never mind though the thing you ask for them should appear to be an impossibility, for God “is able, to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”

I would also say to any unconverted person who is here, under conviction of sin, — Dear friend, if you are beginning to sink, yet still pray. If your sins stare you in the face, and threaten to drive you to despair, yet still draw near to God in prayer. Though it seems as if hell had opened its mouth to swallow you up, yet still cry unto God. “While there’s life, there is hope.”

“While the lamp holds out to burnThe vilest sinner may return;” —

and the vilest sinner who returns shall find that God is both able and willing to save him. Never believe that lie of Satan that prayer will not prevail with God. Only go as the publican did, smiting upon your breast, and crying, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” and rest assured that God is waiting to be gracious unto you.

I cannot help feeling that Peter’s short, simple prayer was uttered in a most natural tone of voice: “Lord, save me.” Let us always pray in just such a way as the Spirit of God dictates to us, and as the deep sorrow and humiliation of our heart naturally suggest to us. Many men who pray in public get into the habit of using certain tones in prayer that are anything but natural, and I am afraid that some even, in private fail to pray naturally. Any language that is not natural is bad; the best tone is that which a man uses when he is speaking earnestly, and means what he says, and that is the right way to pray. Speak as if you meant it; do not whine it, or cant it, or intone it, but pour it out of your soul in the most simple, natural fashion that you can. Peter was in too great peril to put any fine language into his prayer; He was too conscious of his danger to consider how he might put his words together, but he just expressed the strong desire of his soul in the simplest manner possible: “Lord, save me!” and that prayer was heard, and Peter was saved from drowning, just as a sinner will be saved from hell if he can pray after the selfsame fashion.

I. Now, coming to Peter’s prayer itself, and suggesting that it is a suitable prayer for all who are able to pray at all, my first observation upon it is that IT WAS A VERY BRIEF PRAYER. There were only three words in it: “Lord, save me.” I believe that the excellence of prayer often consists in its brevity. You must have noticed the extreme brevity of most of the prayers that are preserved in Scripture. One of the longest is the prayer of our Savior recorded by John, which would, I suppose, have occupied about five minutes; and there is the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple, which may have taken six minutes. Almost all the other prayers in the Bible are very short ones; and, probably, in our public services, we pray far longer than all of them put together. This may, perhaps, be excused when there are many petitions to be presented by one person on behalf of a large congregation; but at our prayer-meetings, where there are many to speak, I am certain that, the longer the prayer is, the worse it is. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. The Spirit of God sometimes inspires a man in, such a way that, if he would keep on praying all night, we should be glad to join with, him in that holy exercise; but, as a general rule, the Spirit of God does no such thing. There are some who pray longest, when they have least to say, and only go on repeating certain pious phrases which become almost meaningless by monotonous reiteration. Remember, dear friends, when you are praying, whether in public or in private, that you have not to teach the Lord a system of theology; he knows far more about that than you do. You have no need to explain to me, Lord all the experience that a Christian ought to have, for he knows that far better than you do. And there is not necessity for you always to go round all the various agencies, and institutions, and mission stations. Tell the Lord what is in your heart in as few words as possible, and so leave time and opportunity for others to do the same. I wonder if anyone here, ever says, “I have no time for prayer.” Dear friend, dare you leave your house in the morning without bowing the knee before God? Can you venture to close your eyes at night, and wear the image of death, without first commending yourself to the keeping of God during the hours of unconsciousness in sleep? I do not understand how you can live such a careless life as that. But, surely, you did not really mean that you had not time to offer such a prayer as Peter’s “Lord, save me.” How much time does that take, or this? “God be merciful to me a sinner.” If you realized your true, condition in God’s sight, you would find time: for prayer somehow or other, for you would feel that you must pray. It never occurred to Peter, as he was beginning to sink, that he had no time for prayer. He felt that he must pray; his sense of danger forced him to cry to Christ, “Lord, save me.” And if you feel as you should feel, your sense of need will drive you to prayer, and never again will you say, “I have no time for prayer.” It is not a matter of time so much as a matter of heart; if you have the heart to pray, you will find the time.

I would urge you to cultivate the habit of praying briefly all the day. I have told you before of the Puritan who, in a debate, was observed to be making notes; and when they were afterwards examined, it was found that, there was nothing on the paper except these words, “More light, Lord! More light, Lord! More light, Lord!” He wanted light upon the subject under discussion, and therefore he asked the Lord for it, and that is the way to pray. During the day, you can pray, “Give me more grace, God. Subdue my temper, Lord. Tell me, O my God, what to do in this case! Lord, direct me. Lord, save me.” Pray thus, and you will be imitating the good example of brevity in prayer which our text sets before you.

II. Notice, next, that, brief as Peter’s prayer was, IT WAS WONDERFULLY COMPREHENSIVE, AND ADAPTED FOR USE ON MANY DIFFERENT OCCASIONS: “Lord, save me.”

It covered all the needs of Peter at that time, and he might have continued to use it as long as he lived. When his Master told him that Satan desired to have him that he might sift him as wheat, he might well have prayed, “Lord, save me.” When he had denied his Master, and had gone out, and wept bitterly, it would have been well for him to pray, “Lord, save me.” When he was afterwards journeying to and from preaching the gospel, he could still pray, “Lord, save me,” and when, at last, he was led out to be crucified for Christ’s sake, he could hardly find a better prayer than this with which to close, his life, “Lord, save me.”

Now, as Peter found this prayer so suitable for him, I commend it to each one of you. Have; you been growing rich lately? Then, you will be tempted to become proud and worldly; so pray, “Lord, save me from the evils that, so often go, with riches; thou art giving me this wealth, help me to be a good steward of it, and not to make, an idol of it.” Or are you getting poor? Is your business proving a failure? Are your little savings almost gone? Well, there are perils connected with poverty; so pray, “Lord, save me from becoming envious or discontented; let me be willing to be poor rather than do anything wrong in order to get money.” Do you, dear friend, feel that you are not living as near to God as you once did? Is the chilling influence of the world telling upon you? Then pray, “Lord, save me.” Have you fallen into some sin which you fear may bring disgrace upon your profession? Well then, ere that sin grows greater, cry, “Lord, save me.” Have you come to a place where your feet have well-nigh slipped? The precipice is just before you, and you feel that, if some mightier power than your own does not interpose, you will fall to your serious hurt, if not to your destruction. Then, at once breathe the prayer, “Lord, save me.” I can commend this prayer to you when you are upon the stormy sea, but it will be equally suitable to you upon the dry land: “Lord, save me!” I can commend it as suitable to you when you are near the gates of death, but it is just as much adapted to you when you are in vigorous health: “Lord, save me!” And if you can add to the prayer, “and, Lord, save my children, and my kinsfolk, and my neighbors,” it will be even better. Still, for yourself personally, it is an admirable prayer to carry about with you wherever you go: “Lord, save me.”

III. Peter’s prayer had a third excellence, IT WAS VERY DIRECT. It would not have done for Peter just then to have used the many titles which rightly belong to Christ, or to have been asking for thousand things; but he went straight to the point of his immediate need, and cried, “Lord, save me.” When one of our dear friends, who has lately gone to heaven, was very ill, one of his sons prayed with him. He began in a very proper way, “Almighty Father, Maker of heaven and earth, our Creator,” — but the sick man stopped him, and said, “My dear boy, I am a poor sinner, and I want God’s mercy; say, ‘Lord, save him.’” He wanted his son to get to the point, and I can sympathize with him; for often, when some of our dear brethren have been praying here, and have been beating about the bush, I have wished that they would come to the point, and ask for what they really needed. They have kept on walking round the house, instead of knocking at the door, and seeking to enter. Peter’s prayer shows us how to go direct to the very heart of the matter: ‘Lord, save me.’

Many persons fail to receive answers to their prayers because they will not go straight to God, and confess the sins that they have committed. There was a member of a Christian church who had, on one occasion, fallen very shamefully through drink. He was very penitent, and he asked his pastor to pray for him, but, he would not say what, his sin had been. The pastor prayed, and then told the brother himself to pray. The poor man said, “Lord, thou knowest that I have erred, and done wrong,” and so on, making a sort of general confession, but that brought him no peace of mind. He felt that he could not go away like that, so he knelt down again, and said, “Lord, thou knowest that I was drunk; it was a shameful sin that I committed, but I am truly grieved for it; O Lord, forgive me, for Jesus’ sake!” and ere his prayer was finished, he had found peace because he had plainly confessed his sin to God, and had not sought to hide it any longer. You remember that David could get no peace until he came to the point, and prayed, “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation.” Before that, he had tried to smother his great sin; but there was no rest for his conscience until he had made a full confession of his guilt, and after that he could say, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” Let our prayers, whether for ourselves or others, and especially our confessions of sin, go straight to the point, and not go beating about the bush. If any of you have been using forms of prayer, which have not obtained for you any answers to your supplications, put them all on one side, and just go and tell the Lord plainly what you want. Your prayer will then probably be something like this, “O God, I am a lost sinner! I have been careless about divine things; I have listened to the gospel, but I have not obeyed it. Lord, forgive me, save me, make me thy child, and let me and my household too, be thine for ever.” That is the way to pray so that God will hear and answer you.

IV. Another characteristic of Peter’s prayer was that IT WAS A VERY SOUND-DOCTRINE PRAYER: “Lord, save, me.” Peter does not appear to have had any idea, of saving himself from drowning, he does not seem to have thought that there was sufficient natural buoyancy about him to keep him afloat or that he could swim to the ship; but, “beginning to sink, he cried, “Lord, save me.” One of the hardest tasks in the world is to get a man to give up all confidence in himself, and from his heart to pray, “Lord, save me.” Instead of doing that, he says, “O Lord, I do not feel as I aught; I want to feel my need more, I want to feel more joy, I want to feel more, holiness.” You see, he is putting feelings in place of faith; he is, as it were, laying down a track along which he wants God to walk instead of walking in the way which God has marked out for all who desire to be saved. Another man is seeking to reform himself, and so to make himself fit for heaven; and he prays in harmony with that idea, and of course gets no answer. I like to hear such, a prayer as this, “O Lord, I cannot save myself, and I do not ask thee to save me in any way that I prescribe; Lord, save me anyhow, only do save me! I am satisfied to be saved by the precious blood of Jesus. I am satisfied to be saved by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. I know I must be born again if I am ever to enter heaven; quicken me; O thou ever-blessed Spirit! I know I must give, up my sins. Lord, I do not want to keep them, save me from them by thy grace, I humbly entreat thee. I know that only thou canst do this work; I cannot lift even a finger to help thee in it; so save me, Lord, for thy great mercy’s sake!” This is sound doctrinal truth, — salvation all of grace, not of man, nor by men; “not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God;” salvation according to the eternal purpose of God, by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit, through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When a sinner its willing to accept salvation on God’s terms, then the prayer shall ascend acceptably to the: Most High, “Lord, save me.”

V. Notice also that PETERS PRAYER WAS A VERY PERSONAL ONE: “Lord, save me.”

Peter did not blink of anybody else just then; and when, a soul is under concern about, its eternal interests, it had better at first confine its thoughts to itself, and pray, “Lord, save me.” Yes, and in the Christian’s after-life, there will come times when he had better, for a while, forget all others, and simply pray, “Lord, save me.” Here we are, a great congregation gathered together from very various motives; and perhaps some here, who are not yet personally interested in Christ, are vaguely hoping that God will bless somebody in this assembly; but if the Holy Spirit shall begin to work upon some individual heart and conscience, the convicted one will begin to pray, “Lord, save me. I hear of many others being brought to Jesus; but, Lord, save me. My dear sister has been converted, and has made a profession of her faith; but, Lord, save me. I had a godly mother, who has gone home to glory; and my dear father is walking in thy fear; let not their son be a castaway, Lord, save me.”

I entreat everyone here to pray this personal prayer, and I beg you who do love the Lord to join me in pleading with him that it may be so. I see some little girls over there; Will not each one of you, my dear children, pray this prayer? I pray the Holy Spirit to move you to cry, “Lord, save little Annie,” or “Lord, save little Mary;” and may you boys be equally moved to pray, “Lord, save Tom,” or “Lord, save Harry.” Pray for yourself in just that simple way, and who knows what blessing may come to you? Then you mothers will surely not let your children pray for themselves, while you remain prayerless; will not each one of you pray, “Lord, save me”? And you working-men, whom I am so glad to see at a week-night service, do not go away without presenting your own personal petitions. The apostle Peter had to pray for himself, the most eminent servants of God had to pray for themselves, and you must pray for yourselves. If all the saints of God were to pray for you, with one united voice, as long as you live, you would not be saved unless you also cried to God find yourself. Religion is a personal matter, there is no such thing as religion by proxy. You must repent for yourselves, and pray for yourselves, and believe for yourselves if you would be saved. May God grant that you may do so!

VI. I want you to notice, next, that PETER’S PRAYER WAS A VERY URGENT ONE: “Lord, save me.”

He did not say, “Lord, come to-morrow, or “Lord, save me in an hour’s time.” He was “beginning to sink; the hungry waves had opened their mouths to swallow him, and he would soon be gone. He had only time to cry, “Lord, save, me,” but he no doubt meant, “Lord, save me now, for I am in danger of being drowned. Lord, save me now, for, if thou shouldest delay, I shall sink to the bottom of the sea.” And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him,” and so saved him. There are many people who would like Jesus to save them, but when? Ah! that is the point which they have not settled yet. A young man says, “I should like Christ to save me which I grow older, when I have seen a little more of life.” You mean when you have seen a great deal more of death, for that is all you will see in the world; there is no, real life except that which is in Christ Jesus. Many a man in middle life has said I mean to be a Christian before I die, but not just yet.” He has been too busy to seek the Lord, but death has collect to him without any warning, and, busy or not, he has had to die quite unprepared.

There is hope for a sinner when he prays, “Lord, my case is urgent, save me now. Sin, like a viper, has fastened itself upon me; Lord, save, me now from its deadly venom. I am guilty now, and condemned already, because I have not believed in Jesus; Lord, save me now, save, me from condemnation, save me from the damning sin of unbelief. Lord, for aught, I know, I am now upon the brink of death, and I am in danger of hell as well as of death as long as I am unforgiven. Therefore, be pleased to let the wheels of thy chariot of mercy hasten, and save, me even now, O Lord!” I have known some who have been so deeply under the influence of the Holy Spirit, that they have knelt down by their bedsides, and said, “We will never give sleep to our eyes, or slumber to our eyelids, till we have found the Savior,” and ere long they have found him. They have said, “We will wrestle in prayer until our burden of sin is gone, “and when they have reached that, determination it has not been long before they have obtained the blessing they desire. When nothing else succeeds, importunity will surely prevail. When thou wilt not take a denial from God, he will not give thee a denial; but as long as thou art content to be unsaved, thou wilt he unsaved. When you cry with all the urgency of which you are capable, “I must have Jesus, or die; I am hungering, thirsting, pining, panting after him, as the hart panteth after the water-brooks;” it shall not be long before, you clasp that priceless treasure to your heart, and say, “Jesus is my Savior; I have believed in him.”

VII. Now, lastly, I must remind you that PETER’S PRAYER WAS AN EFFECTUAL ONE: Lord, save me, and Jesus did save him.

There may be comfort, to some here present, in the thought that, although this was the prayer of a man in trouble, and a man in whom there was a mixture of unbelief and faith, yet it succeeded. Imperfections and infirmities shall not prevent prayer from speeding if it be but sincere and earnest. Jesus said to Peter, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” which shows that he did doubt although there was also some faith in him, for he believed that Christ, could save him from a watery grave. Many of us also are strange mixtures, even as Peter was. Repentance and hardness of heart can each occupy a part of our being, and faith may he in our heart together with a measure of unbelief, even as it was with the man who said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

Do any of you feel that you want to pray, and yet cannot pray? You would believe in Jesus, but there is another law in your members which keeps you back. You would pray an effectual prayer, like that of Elijah, never staggering at the promise through unbelief; but, somehow or other, you cannot tell why, you cannot attain to that prayer. Yet you will not give up praying; you feel that you cannot do that. You linger still at the mercy-seat even when you cannot prevail with God in prayer. All, dear soul! it is a mercy that God does not judge thy prayer by what it is in itself; he judges it from another point, of view altogether. Jesus takes it, mends it, adds to it the merit of his own precious blood, and then, when he presents it to his Father, it is so changed that you would scarcely recognize it as your petition you would say, “I can hardly believe that is my prayer, Christ has so greatly altered and improved it.” It has happened to you as it sometimes happens to poor people who are in trouble, as it did happen to one whom I knew some time ago. A good woman wanted me to send in a petition to a certain government office, concerning her husband, who was dead, and for whose sake she wanted to get some help. She drew up the petition, and brought it to me. About one word in ten was spelt correctly, and the whole composition was unfit to send. She wanted me to add my name to it, and post it for her. I did so, but I first re-wrote the whole petition, keeping the subject matter as she put it, but altering the form and wording of it. That is what our good Lord and Master does for us only in infinitely higher sense, he re-writes our petition, sets his own sign-manual to it, and when his Father sees that, he grants the request at once. One drop of Christ’s blood upon a prayer must make it prosper.

Go home, therefore, you who are troubled with doubts and fears, you who are vexed by Satan, you who are saddened by the recollection of your own past sins; notwithstanding all this, go to God, and say, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,” and ask for his forgiveness, and his forgiveness you shall receive. Keep on praying in such a fashion as this, “Lord, save me, for Jesus’ sake. Jesus, thou art the Savior of sinners, save me, I beseech thee. Thou art mighty to save; Lord, save me. Thou art in heaven pleading for transgressors; Lord, plead for me.” Do not wait till you get home, but pray just where, you are sitting, “Lord save me.” May God give grace to everyone here to pray that prayer from the heart, for Jesus Christ’s sake! Amen.

Exposition by C. H. Spurgeon.

MATTHEW 6:5-34.

Verse 5. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagoges and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.

We ought to pray in the synagogue, and we may pray at the corners of the streets; but the wrong is to do it to “be seen of men,” that is, to be looking for some present reward in the praises that fall from human lips.

5-7. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

They seem to attribute a sort of power to a certain form of words, as if it were a charm, and they repeat it over and over again. Not only do the poor Mohammedans and heathens “use vain repetitions,” but the members of the Romish and other churches that I might name do the same thing; words to which they attach but very slight meaning, and into which they put little or no heart, are repeated by them again and again, as if there could be some virtue in the words themselves. Let it not be so with you beloved. Pray as long as you like in secret, but do not pray long with the idea that God will hear you simply because you are a long while at your devotions.

8. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before you ask him.

He does not need to be informed, nor even to be persuaded. Mere words are of no value in his ears. If you must needs use many words, ask them to lend you their ears, for they may have little else to do with them; but God careth not for words alone, it is the thought, the desire of the heart to which he ever hath regard.

9. After this manner therefore pray ye:

Here is a model prayer for you to copy as far as it is suited to your case: —

9-13. Our Father which art in heaven See The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 213, “The Fatherhood of God.”, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. See The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 1,778, “A Heavenly Pattern for our Earthly Life.” Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, See The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 1,402, “Lead us Not into Temptation.” but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

And then, as it there was one part of the prayer that would be sure to arrest the attention of his hearers, namely, that concerning forgiving our debtors, the Savior makes the following remarks: —

14, 15. For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Therefore, in order to succeed in prayer, we must have a heart purged from a spirit of revenge and from all unkindness; we must ourselves be loving and forgiving, or we cannot expect that God will hear our supplications when we come to crave his forgiveness.

16. Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast.

They seemed to say to everyone who looked at them, “We have been so engrossed with our devotions that we have not found time even to wash our faces.” But the Savior says to his followers, “Do not imitate those hypocrites; do not make public our private religious exercises, perform them unto God, and not unto men. As for those hypocrites,” —

16. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

And a poor reward it is.

17, 18. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

May God give us that modest, unselfish spirit which lives unto him, and does not want to walk in the sham light of men’s esteem! What matters it, after all, what men think of us? The hypocrite proudly boasts if he wins a little praise from his fellows but what is it except so much wind? If all men should speak well of us, all that we should gain would be this, “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”

19, 20. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Christ here first teaches us how to pray, and then teaches us how really to live. He turns our thoughts from the object in life which allures and injures so many, but which is, after all, an object unworthy of our search; and he bids us seek something higher and better: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” —

21. For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.

It is sure to be so: your heart will follow your treasure. Send it away therefore up to the everlasting hills, lay up treasure in that blessed land before you go there yourself.

22, 23. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! See The New Park Street Pulpit, No. 335, “A Single Eye and Simple Faith.”

If thine eye be brooked up with gold dust, or if thou art living for self and this world, thy whole life will be a dark life, and the whole of thy being will dwell in darkness. “But,” says someone, “may I not live for this world and the next too?” listen: —

24. No man can serve two masters:

He may serve two individuals, who have conflicting interests but they cannot both be his masters.

24. For either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Either the one or the other will be master, they are so opposed to each other that they will never agree to a divided service. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” It is the Lord Jesus Christ who says this, so do not attempt to do what he declares is impossible.

25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, —

It should be, “Take no distracting thought for your life,” —

25. What ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

You are obliged to leave your life with God, why not leave with him all care about your food and your raiment?

26. Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Do you believe that, after all your earnest labor and your industry, God will permit you to starve, when these creatures, that labor not, yet are fed?

27-29. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was never arrayed like one of these.

Christ asks then whether, by taking thought, they can add a single cubit to their lives, for I take his question to mean, whether they could, by any means, make the standard of existence any longer than it was. They could not do so, they could shorten it, and very often, carking care has brought men to their graves. Then Christ bade them note how the lilies grow, so that even Solomon could not excel them for beauty.

30-33. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore, take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or, Wherewithall shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for our heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. See Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No 1,864 “First Things First;” No. 2,515, “Something Worth Seeking;” and No. 2,973, “Thought Condemned, yet Commended.”

If you want string and brown paper, you need not go into a shop to buy them, but if you buy certain articles, you get string and brown paper into the bargain. So, when you go to God, seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness, these other things, which are but the packing, as it were, the string and the brown paper, are given to you into the bargain. He who giveth you the golden treasures of heaven will not allow you to want for the copper treasures of earth.

34. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

You cannot live in to-morrow, so do not fret about to-morrow. You live in to-day, so think of to-day, spend to-day to God’s glory, and leave the care about to-morrow until to-morrow comes.

15. Prayer — Its Discouragements And Encouragements No. 2841

A Sermon Intended For Reading On Lord’s-Day,June 26th, 1903,Delivered By C. H. Spurgeon,At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, NewingtonOn A Thursday Evening,In The Summer Of 1861

“But He Answered Her Not A Word.” Matthew 15:23

WITH Christian men it is not a matter of question as to whether God hears prayer or not. There is no fact in mathematics which has been more fully demonstrated than this fact in experience that God heareth prayer. About some other things in Christianity, young believers may have a question; but about the Lord’s answering prayer, even they cannot entertain a doubt; while, to the old and advanced believer, who has tested the power of the mercy-seat, and proved it thousands of times, it is a matter about which he never allows a question, for he knows that, as surely as that he himself exists, and that God lives in heaven, the prayers of puny but believing man have power to move the almighty arm of God.

Probably, in the course of the past week, some of us have met with as many as a dozen special answers to prayer. Sceptics spend their sneers in vain upon us. Facts are blessed, as well as stubborn, things. Men may say that it is not possible that the cries and petitions of man can move the heart of God. They may question it, they may raise doubts about it; but doubts upon this matter never enter our minds, they never touch our inner consciousness, for we know that answers to prayer are a fact; and until we can doubt that, we are men, until we can doubt that we breathe the air or live on food until we can doubt that which we see with our eyes and touch with our hands, we cannot doubt that God is, “and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Of course, our confidence that God answer prayer is not an argument to another man. He who has not tried it cannot have proved it for himself. But to those who have tried prayer, and proved it, we insist upon it that it amounts to a demonstration as clear as logic itself can make it, when, having called upon God, not merely once or twice, but thousands of times throughout their lives, they have invariably met with the same result, namely, a gracious answer from him who really does and will hear prayer. Yet there is, sometimes, a strange thing which puzzles the earnest believer. There are times when it does seem as if his prayer were not heard, for certainly it is not answered, or, at least, not answered as he expected. There are seasons, even with God’s true children,

“When at his feet they groan,Yet bring their wants away.”

They present their petition before the Lord, yet their request does not seem to be complied with there and then. To those who know that this is no strange thing which has happened unto them, it is not a matter which staggers their faith, for they can say, with Ralph Erskine, that

“They’re heard when answered soon or late;Yea, heard when they no answer get;Are kindly answered when refused,And treated well when harshly used.”

They understand that God’s delays are not denials, and that his denials to particular requests are only intended to let us know that he will give us something richer and better than we have asked. If he doth not pay thy prayers in silver, he will pay them in gold; and if thy prayers he long in coming back, they shall be like a richly-laden ship which is all the longer on its way because of its costly freight, and which shall amply repay for the time spent on the voyage by the richness of the cargo it brings from the far country.

Yet I must again remind you that to some, and especially to young seekers, it is a staggering experience when, having long cried to Jesus, he answers them not a word; when, having prayed to him, they have seen no smile upon his benignant face, and have heard no word of comfort from those lips of his, which drop like honeycombs to others, but seem to be as dry wells to them. I am going to discuss this matter now as God the Holy Ghost may enable me, and I pray that he may make it comforting to many a distracted spirit. May some be graciously brought up out of the deep darkness of their prison-house, and be caused to rejoice in the liberty wherewith Christ makes his people free!

I shall speak of the text, first, in reference to those who have been praying for themselves; and, secondly, in regard to those who have been praying for others.

I. First, then, I am going to describe the case of SOME WHO HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR THEMSELVES, but to whom, as yet, Christ has answered not a word.

I can describe the case of these people experimentally, for I have felt the same. As some of you know, I passed through five years of agony, during which my young spirit was crushed almost to despair. During those five years, if ever a child prayed to God, I did; and if ever a lad groaned, out of a longing spirit, to Jehovah in heaven, I did. You may remember that part of John Bunyan’s “Grace Abounding” where he speaks of the exercises of his soul, and especially of his terror because his prayers seemed to reverberate from a brazen heaven, and not to pierce the skies. Such, too, was my experience. I am sure that I was sincere in my prayers, and in my groanings that could not be uttered; but yet, answers to my supplications there were none. I can speak, therefore, I trust, with all the more power because I can speak, sympathetically, of something which I have known and felt.

Poor soul, you have been praying for these last few months; and your complaint is, that you have not had one gracious answer to your petitions, or one precious promise applied with power to your soul. Let me remind you that the poor woman, of whom our text speaks, was in a similar condition. Indeed, not only did she not receive a promise, but she received a rebuff from Christ. Instead of a gracious invitation to come unto him, she had almost a command to go from him. When he did speak to her, he said, “I am not sent but unto the last sheep of the house of Israel.” Yours, then, is not a singular case. You must not sit down in despair because no promise has come home to your soul. Still continue to cry unto the Lord, still be constantly in prayer unto him. He will, he must, hear you by-and-by, and you shall have your heart’s desire.

“Yes,” you say, “but not only have I not had a promise, but I have not had any comforting sign whatever. The more I pray, the worse I feel; and the more I groan, the more it seems that I may groan. If my prayers are arrows, they are arrows that fall downwards, and return into my own heart instead of flying up to God’s ear. I must pray, I cannot help it; my soul would burst if it did not express itself in words; yet my prayer does me little or no good. I rise from my knees more distressed than ever, and I come out of my closet, not as a man released from prison, but as he that passes from one dungeon to another. The Lord hath refused to listen to my supplication; he hath forgotten to be gracious, in anger he hath shut up the bowels of his compassion.” Perhaps you even go further than this, and say, “I feel as if my prayer never would be answered. Something within me tells me that I may pray, but that, after all, I shall perish; that there may be mercy for all others in the world, but not for me. I may lift the knocker of mercy’s gate, but the sound shall be only like that of a hammer upon my coffin; there shall be no music of hope as I rap at the golden gate. I know that God heareth prayer, but not the prayer of the wicked; that is an abomination unto the Lord. Such, I fear, is my prayer; and, therefore, he will not hear me.” Ah, poor soul! let me remind you that there is nothing that is so deluding as feelings. Christians cannot live by feelings, nor can you. Let me further tell you that these feelings are the work of Satan; they are not right feelings. What right have you to set up your feelings against the Word of Christ? He has expressly said, “For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” It is not a question whether a man who truly prays shall be saved. He is saved, though he may not know it; he has the germs of salvation in his prayer. “Behold, he prayeth,” means, “Behold, he liveth; behold, he is accepted; behold, heaven openeth its gates for him.” He prays; Jehovah hears; mercy answers; the man is blessed. I pray thee, then, let not thy feelings fly in the teeth of God’s promises, but hope on; for, though thy case be very sad, it is not a strange one, and there is hope for thee. Having thus described your case, let me now warn you of a danger. There is a danger to which all those are exposed who have prayed for any length of time without consciously receiving an answer from God, and that is, either to get despairing thoughts of themselves or else hard thoughts of Christ. That poor Canaanite was a brave woman. She came of an accursed race, but certainly there was a special blessing resting upon her. If you or I had been there when Christ spake to her so harshly, I wonder whether we should have taken his remarks so well as she did. Do you remember times when Christ has been silent to you? If so, you can imagine what her feelings must have been when “he answered her not a word.” Some of you, who have quick tempers, would have said, if that had been your experience, “Is this the Messiah of whom we have heard so much, and who is said to be so ready to relieve the distressed? Here have we been crying to him in tones that seemed piercing enough to make a heart of adamant melt for us, yet he has not designed to answer us. He seems to be stone deaf; or, if he hears us, he does not condescend to give us any reply. Is this the kind and tender spirit of which we have heard so much? “And when at last he spake, and said, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs,” some would have said, “If he would not grant us our request, he need not have used insulting epithets to us. Dogs, indeed! What means he by that term! He means that we do not belong to the favored race of Israel; and a fine thing it would be for us if we did. Are they not oppressed under the Roman yoke, and cast off like withered branches?” The Canaanite woman might have said, “Why does he call me a dog? Am I not a woman, and an honest woman, too, and one who does not deserve such a title as that? I wish I had never asked for mercy at his hands. To get such an insult as to have the name of ‘dog’ thrown at me, is too bad; and I will not endure it.” That may be a strong way of putting the matter, but you and I have probably put it in just that way Have we not thought, because Christ has not answered our prayers, that there was a mistake about his graciousness, that he was not the Christ that some said he was that he did not mean his invitation when he said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest;” that he desired to tantalize poor souls, making them pray and cry to him while he meant to be deaf to their requests? Have you not had hard thoughts of Christ like those? If you have, I pray you to put them all away from you, and not to fall into this snare of Satan. Jesus is the good Christ still. Though he may seem to be stony-hearted, he is not so in reality; he is always tender, he hath bowels of compassion. Slander him not, then; but be of good courage and still cry unto him.

Possibly, Satan says to you, “Your prayer is not of the right sort; and, therefore, you never will be heard.” Yes, but that Canaanitish woman’s prayer to Christ was of the right sort, yet “he answered her not a word.” Notice what her prayer was: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David.” She gave him the right name. She might have said, “Thou Son of Abraham.” That would have signified that he was the one in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. That was the covenant which the Lord made with Abraham; but this woman said, “Thou Son of David.” The covenant made with David related, not only to blessing and increase, but also to a kingdom, so this woman seemed to say to Christ, “Man of sorrows though thou art, thou art of royal blood; thy visage is more marred than that of any men and thou wearest not a diadem, yet art thou King.” She did, as it were, pay him the homage which Pilate unwittingly paid him when he placed over his head the inscription, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” “Thou Son of David,” she knew how to address him.

Then notice how she pleaded with him; she appealed, not to his justice, but to his mercy, to the love of his tender and compassionate heart: “Have mercy on me.” This was the plea of the publican, the prayer by which he was justified, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” There was nothing wrong in this woman’s prayer to Christ, yet “he answered her not a word.” So then, poor heart, thy prayers also may be right and proper, and yet not be answered. If they are not answered, faint not; but continue to pray. The Lord will yet reply to thy petition; he will open the windows of heaven, and shower down his mercy upon thee, and thou shalt receive it with a gladsome heart.

Now, having reminded you of your danger, let me call to your recollection the grounds of your comfort. What had this woman to comfort her? Well, first, she had Jesus Christ’s face. He said to her, “It is not meek to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.” Now, my idea of the Savior is that he could not utter that hard sentence without, somehow or other, letting the woman see, by the very expression of his countenance, that he was keeping some thing back, and that there was love yet in store for her. You know that your children can soon detect the meaning of what you say to them, for they can read your face as well as your words. So can poor beggars, and so could this poor woman who was begging of Christ so hard for her child. “Ay,” she seemed to say, “thy lips may utter hard words, but thy loving eyes flash not the fire that should go with such severe sentences. I see a tear lifting up thine eyelids even now. I believe the language of thy face; that marred face — marred with sympathy for others’ sorrows, marred with the cares and burdens of others, which have weighed thee down, will not let me believe that thy heart is harsh.” So, sinner, for thy comfort, let me beseech thee to look into the face of Jesus Christ. Dost thou believe that he the Son of Mary, the Man of sorrows, grief’s acquaintance can reject thee? O Christ, when I picture thee before my eyes especially when I see thy face bedewed with bloody sweat in Gethsemane, and listen to thine agonized groanings in the garden, I cannot, and I will not, believe that thou canst ever reject a supplicant who cries to thee, “Be merciful to me!”

Or, if that shall not be enough to cheer thee, remember that this poor woman had something more to comfort her, for she had heard the story of Christ’s good deeds. She had been told, even in Tyre, what he had done in Capernaum, and she had heard, though far away, what he had done in Chorazin, so she believed that he, who had done such good deeds to others, could not be hard to her. So, sinner, let me tell thee of the good deeds that Christ hath done to others. I could bring thee hundreds, or even thousands, who could truly say, with the psalmist, “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.” Speak with your eyes, my brethren, and bear witness to the fact which I now testify, has not God heard your prayers, though you were sinners even as others, as vile by nature, and as hopeless by depravity! Did he not bring us up out of the horrible pit, out in the miry clay, and set our feet upon a rock, and establish our goings? Sinner, he who did this for us will and must do the like for you if you plead for mercy through the precious blood of his dear Son.

But you have one comfort which this poor woman never had; she could not be told that Christ had died for her. Sinner, thou who art seeking Christ, say not that he is harsh, and that he will not hear thee. Come thou with me, and by faith look upon him on the cross. Canst thou behold his thorn-crown, with its lancets piercing his blessed brow, and the tears streaming down his cheeks already crimsoned with his bloody sweat? Canst thou see his hands and feet as, pierced by the nails, they become founts of blood! There he hangs, naked, despised and rejected of men. Yet he endured all this agony that he might save sinners; then, how canst thou think so wickedly of him as to suppose that he, who once died, the Just for the unjust, now that he lives again, has an adamantine heart, and no bowels of compassion? No, by his wounds, I beseech thee to trust him; by his bloody sweat, I implore thee to continue thy supplication unto him; by his rent side, I urge thee to wrestle with him yet again, for he will hear thee, his mercy shall come unto thee, and thou shalt rejoice in it.

Lend me your ears while I give you a word of counsel as to what you ought to do. It is the Spirit of God who has taught you to pray. He has made you feel your need of a Savior; it is he who has compelled you to fall upon your knees, and to cry for mercy. Now remember that it is your duty, as well as your privilege, to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit. What does that voice say to you? “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” That is to say, even though thy prayers be not answered, in the teeth of every hard thought and every harsh word, trust Christ with thy soul. If thou doest that, thou art saved there and then. The way of salvation is not, “Pray, and be saved;” but, “Believe, and be saved.” Christ said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Remember that your main business is not with answers to prayer, but with your answer to God’s call to you; and his call to you, poor conscience-stricken, awakened sinner, is, “Come unto me, and I will give you rest.” Come, then, to Christ just as you are, and so shall you find that answer to your prayers which has been so long delayed. Still keep on wrestling with God, until your prayers are answered. Jericho’s walls did not fall down the first day the hosts of Israel went round them; but they compassed the city seven days, and, on the seventh day, the walls fell flat to the ground. Elijah, on the top of Carmel, did not bring the rain the first time he prayed; but he said to his servant, “Go again seven times;” and there have been many other instances in which God has delayed the blessing, but has given it at the last.

I have thus preached, as God has enabled me, to poor seeking souls. O Spirit of God, apply the Word, and bring sinners to Christ, that they may find mercy in his wounds!

II. Now, for a few minutes, let us turn to the case of THOSE BELIEVERS, WHO HAVE LONG SEEN PRAYING FOR OTHERS WITHOUT APPARENT result. There is a father here, who has been pleading with God for his daughter; and though years of supplication have passed away, she is still unconverted, and as hardened as ever. There is a mother here, who has laid her children upon her bosom, in prayer, as once she did for nourishment when they were but babes; and yet, though she cries day and night for them, they are not saved. My dear brothers and sisters, I beseech you never to give up praying for your children, or your other relatives, because, although God may not answer you for a while, you shall certainly yet have the desire of your heart. Let me just give you one or two instances in which the power of prayer has been distinctly proved.

There was a young man who, because of his love for sin, and his wish to be easy in it, became an infidel. As I have often said, infidelity is far more a matter of the heart than of the head. I am persuaded that men think there is no God because they wish there were none. They find it hard to believe in God, and to go on in sin, so they try to get an easy conscience by denying his existence. This young man was not only an infidel, but he was a very earnest one, and he used to distribute certain newspapers brought out by the infidel press. His employer was just as earnest a Christian as the young man was an infidel, and he used constantly to burn those papers whenever he could get hold of them; but the young man just as perseveringly procured others, and tried to lend them among the apprentices and journeymen, that he might advance his own views. He was always a bold blasphemer, and a desperate sinner. He cared little what others thought of him, and he was, at least, honest in his iniquities One day, in a joke, he said to one of his companions, “I’ll tell you what I will do. I’ll show you that there is nothing in any of the Methodist cant and hypocrisy, the very first time there is a prayer-meeting at such-and-such a chapel, I’ll go and offer myself to the minister to be prayed for by the members, and I shall get some fun out of them.” He went; and, with all the impudence and coolness possible, told the minister that he was a poor troubled soul, who wished to find peace, and that he would be very glad if the brethren would pray for him. He did not know what he was doing; for, whether it was that the very deed awoke his slumbering conscience, or whether the Spirit of God was pleased to show the sovereignty of his grace at that moment, I cannot tell; but, as soon as one or two humble individuals had prayed for this young man, with tears in their eyes, he was down on his knees, with tears in his own eyes, praying for himself. Nay, not only did he pray then, but he never ceased to pray, and he is praying still, for he could not live without prayer. He found it no matter of fun, after all; he intended to tempt God, and to vex his people; but in that very act of sin he was arrested and converted. Do you think, then, if prayer only asked for in sport prevailed with God, that he will not hear your earnest cries for your own offspring! O Christians, be fervent in your supplications, for God will surely hear you, and your children shall be saved!

Another instance. There lived, in the village of Berwick St. John, in Wiltshire, a godly woman who had an ungodly husband. He not only hated good things, but he hated her for her goodness, for he turned her gut of doors, on a Sabbath night, because she had gone to the meetinghouse. She, like a prudent woman, never told her neighbors, but walked the fields alone that she might not be noticed by others, and that her husband’s shame might not be discovered. She was sometimes driven to the greatest straits, and to a sadness which seemed as if it would bring her to a premature grave. She resolved to pray for her husband, one hour a day, for a year. She did so; and, at the end of the year, he was as bad as before, if not worse. Then she thought she would try another six months; her faith was weak, and she was going to give her husband up then if her prayers were not heard. This was wrong, for we must not limit the Holy One of Israel. But it so happened that, ere the six months were over, her husband came home once, in the middle of the day, looking dejected and downcast. Like a true and tender wife, she asked what was the matter with him, but he could not tell her. He went upstairs, he did not want his dinner, and he did not return to his work that afternoon, for God was at work with him. When his wife got him to speak, he said, “O wife, I can’t pray!” “Do you want to pray?” she asked, and he replied, “Oh, I must pray! I do not know how it was; but, about twelve o’clock today, such a strange feeling came over me. I feel that I am a lost man, for I cannot pray; will you pray for me?” You may guess what her feelings were when asked by that obdurate wretch to pray for him. She did pray, then they prayed together, and their united prayers were answered. The next Sabbath, they were both in God’s house; and, in a few more Sabbaths, they were side by side at the Lord’s table. The godly woman’s prayers were heard at last, and God again proved that he has not said to the seed of Jacob, “Seek ye me in vain-Yet another instance. There was a captain, whose name I will not give in full just now; I will call him Mitchell, for that will suffice. This captain was a godly man, and he once went to sea, leaving his wife at home expecting soon to give birth to their firstborn child. While he was at sea, one day, a time of deep solemnity came over him, in the course of which he penned a prayer. This prayer was for his wife and for his yet unborn child. He put the prayer into the oak chest in which he kept his papers. He never came home again, for he died at sea. His chest was brought home to his wife; she did not open it to look at his papers, but she thought they might be of use to her son when he should grow up. That son lived; and, at the age of sixteen, he joined a regiment at Boston. In that regiment, he became exceedingly debauched, profane, blasphemous, and sinful in every way. At the age of fifty-four, while he was living in sin with a wicked woman, it struck him that he would like to look through the contents of the old chest which his father had left. He opened it, and, at the bottom, found, tied up with red tape, a paper, on the outside of which was written, “The prayer of Mitchell K______ for his wife and child.” He opened it, and read it; it was a most fervent plea with God that the man’s wife and child might belong to Christ written fifty-four years back, and before that child was born. He shut it up, and put it where it was before, and said that he would not look into “that cursed old chest” again. But that did not roaster, for the prayer had got into his heart, and he could not lock his heart up in that chest. He became thoroughly miserable; and the wretched woman, with whom he lived, asked him what was the matter with him. He told her what he had read in that paper, and she said she hoped he would not become a hypocrite. All the jokes and frivolities of his companions could not take out the dart which God had sent into his heart; and, ere long, by true repentance and by living faith, that man was in Christ a saved soul, married honourably to the woman with whom he had lived in sin, and walking in uprightness, serving his father’s God, as the result of a prayer which had lain in an old chest for fifty-four years, but which God’s eye had seen all the while, and which, at last, he had answered when the set time had come.

Be of good courage, all ye who are pleading for your children, for God will yet answer your supplications. As one of the old divines says, “Prayer is the rope which hangs down on earth, and there is a bell in heaven which it rings, and which God hears.” Pull that rope again to-night, praying father and mother. Make the great bell in heaven ring again and again, and let its notes be, “Save my children; save my husband; save my wife; save my brother; let my sister live before thee.” Your prayers shall be heard, and God shall yet grant your requests.” The instances I have given you are authenticated, and I could give you more which have come under my own notice; but time fails, and I have said enough upon that matter.

Let me just preach the gospel at the close plainly and simply, and then I have done. The gospel is this Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, dead and buried; the third day he rose again from the dead, and ascended into heaven. He came into the world to die for sinners; he hung upon the cross and bled for sinners. All that he died for will be saved: he died for sinners, and sinners will be saved.

Your only question is, are you in the true Scriptural sense of the term a confessed and acknowledged sinners. If so, Jesus died for you. On my door step the other night, when I reached home after preaching, stood a man. I asked him what he wanted, and he fell on his knees and cried, “I want to know what I must do to be saved.” I thought the man was mad to be there at that time of night on such an errand; but he cried out concerning his sin, told me I did not know his guilt, that he had been near committing suicide, and that he dared not go home to rest till he was told the way of salvation. “Well,” said I, “I will tell you;” but I could not make it plain to his poor darkened understanding until I told him a story which I have often told concerning an event which happened to me some time ago. One evening when sitting to see enquirers, there came an Irishman upstairs. “Well, Pat,” I said. “How’s your reverence?” said he. “Don’t call me reverence, “I said,” because I am no reverence at all: but how is it you have not gone to your priest?” Said he, “I have come here to ask you a question, and if you can answer it, that will do.” “Well, what is the question?” “Why, you said, last Sunday, that God would forgive sin; what I want to know is how that can be, for I have been such a great sinner that if he doesn’t punish me, he ought.” Well, I thought I had got a sinner to deal with, and one who spoke from his heart what he felt. I said, “God pardons sinners for the sake of Jesus. “But he replied, “I do not know what you mean.” I told him that Jesus Christ died, and that for the sake of that, God pardoned sinners. Still he could not comprehend, and he said, “I want to know how God can be just: he ought to punish sin, and yet he does not; how can that be?” “Well,” said I, “suppose you had been committing a murder, and the judge were to say you must be hanged.” I should deserve it,” said he. “Well, how is Pat to be got off, and yet the sentence to be carried out?” “Faith!” says he, “that’s what I don’t exactly see. “Well, “I continued, “suppose I go to the Queen, and say, ‘Please, your Majesty, I am very fond of this poor Irishman; I admit he ought to be hanged, but I want him to live: will you be so good as to have me hanged instead?” Well, she couldn’t say, “Yes,” Pat; but suppose she did, and suppose I went to prison and were hanged instead of you, the murderer, would the Queen be unjust in letting you go afterwards? “Faith!” says he, “I shouldn’t ask that; how could she meddle with me afterwards? because I should say gentleman was hung for me, and sure enough I was free. But,” he added, “I don’t see what that has to do with the matter.” “Why just this,” said I, “Jesus Christ loved sinners so much that rather than they should perish he was content to die himself instead of them; and now, since Christ died for sinners, can you not see how God can be just in letting sinners go free?” “Oh, yes,” says he, “I see it now; but then how am I to know that Christ died for me, so that I cannot be punished? You say there are some people that Christ died for, so that God could not punish them; then how am I to know whether I belong to them?” “Why, by this are you a sinner? Because if you are not in the matter of compliment, but if you are really so, and feel it, then Christ died in your stead, and you cannot die because God will never enforce the sentence twice; he will not ask payment first at the bleeding Surety’s hands and then at ours.” I think I see that man putting his hands together, and saying, “There! that’s Bible, I know, that’s true, that must be true; no man could have made that up; that’s wonderful; I know it’s God’s Bible, for it just fits me; I am a poor sinner, and God has pardoned me.” And he went on his way rejoicing. Now, doesn’t that fit you, too? What would you give to-night if you could believe that Jesus Christ was punished instead of you, so that all your sins shall never be mentioned any more, but all be forgiven, because God punished Christ Jesus instead of you? I repeat, the only way you can tell is by answering this question Are you a sinner? “Well, we are all sinners,” says one. No, no; you are all sinners, but you are not all the sort of sinners that I mean. Some people say they are sinners, but they don’t mean it. They are like the beggars in London apparently full of sores. Many a man we see in the streets with his leg tied up, and seeming desperately lame, will take off the bandage when he, gets to his lodging house, and will dance before he goes to bed at night. Another man standing against the wall says he is stone, blind; but he will see to count his money when he gets home, after begging all day. There are plenty of people of that sort. Now, if I invited the lame and the blind, do you think I should receive those who were only shamming? No, I would only have those who were really lame and blind. So Christ died only for those who are real sinners.

Exposition by C. H. Spurgeon.

EPHESIANS 2.

Verse 1. And you hath he quickened,

Is it so? Can anyone lay his hand on your shoulder, and say right into your ear, “You hath he quickened”? If so, why this deadness of spirit? Why this worldliness? Why these wanderings? “You hath he quickened,”

1, 2. Who were dead in trespasses and sins; wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, —

You were dead to all that was good, but you were alive enough to that which was evil. It seems, from this passage, that dead men walk, yet not in the way of God, but “according to the course of this world,” —

2, 3. According to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of all obedience: among whom also we all had our conversation in the past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and we were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

We were not in the least better, by nature, than the very worst of men; and if we were any better in practice, it was only because we were restrained by providence and by grace from going into gross sin, as others did. Look unto the hole of the pit whence ye were digged, and see how humble was your origin. If you are proud of your fine feathers, as the peacock is remember his black legs; see whence you came, and recollect the sin from which you were delivered. Bless God for your deliverance, and be humble as you think of the grace that has caused you to differ from others.

4, 5. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

This is a wondrous truth, that God loves the sinner even while he is dead in sin. This love is not caused by any goodness in him, for he is dead, he is wrapped up in the cerements of his sins. There is nothing lovable about him; yet God, “for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.”

6-8. And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in of kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

That great truth was put, in the 5th verse, into a parenthesis. Why did Paul write it twice? Because we cannot too often be reminded that we were saved by grace. It is a truth which we so soon forget that we had need to have it rung in our ears as by a peal of bells, “By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

9. Not of works, lest any man should boast.

God cannot endure boasting, and one great object of the plan of salvation by grace is to extinguish boosting, to shut it out. It is intolerable to God, he cannot endure it.

10. For we are his workmanship,

If we have anything good in us, it was all made by him.

10-12. Created in Christ Jesus unto good work, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

That is a true description of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers, who were certainly heathen of the heathen, the wildest and most ravage of men when Paul wrote this Epistle; and yet, by sovereign grace, we have been brought to the very forefront of the nations of the earth, and we are no longer without God, nor yet without hope, nor yet without Christ, neither are we now strangers to the covenants of promise, nor aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.

13-22. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinance; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: and came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were high. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and Foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

16. A Prayer For Everybody No. 2597

“Then Came She And Worhipped Him, Saying, Lord, Help Me.”Matthew 15: 25

OUR text tells us of a case of real distress; and it shows us how a woman prayed when in an agony. It is a good thing, when young people begin to write, especially if they think of writing for the press, if they will, before they send away their manuscript, take their pen, and strike out every superfluous word. Even as a general rule, for conversation or for correspondence, every word that we can do without is better omitted. As it is difficult to travel if we are encumbered with a great quantity of luggage, so is it difficult to make our meaning clear when it is crushed beneath the weight of too many words. Take your pen, then, young author, sit down quickly, and strike out all the merely ornamental words that you have written; and when you have got rid of them, you will probably have some respectable sentences left.

This woman had no need to omit any of her words, for she was not in a state of mind to utter a sentence that could be pruned of a single word. She was in such a condition that every word that came out of her mouth was like hot shot poured out of her heart. I had almost said that every letter, as well as every syllable and every word she uttered, was coined in blood. She speaks, at any rate, burning language, at blood heat; and the words, as they drop into my ear, come with a kind of overpowering force, so great is their intensity: “Lord, help me.” There is not a syllable to spare; the words are all short, simple, living, burning, from the first one to the last. I like this kind of pleading, and I commend it to you who are inured to pain and sufferings, or who have to do with this rough world, as many of you have. You find that, in your time of distress, you have to throw away a great many merely ornamental things, and you only keep what is real, solid, and substantial. Here is a woman who must deal in realities, for she has at home a real daughter, really tormented by a real devil; and she believes that before her there is a real Savior, and she intends not to let him slip away through any want of intensity on her part. She follows him with clamorous cries; if she be repulsed, she still pursues him, and when, at last, he gives her what looks like a wry word, she will not believe it; but she adores him, she worships him, and she cries out of the depths of her soul, “Lord, help me.” I want to speak specially about her prayer. We have begun with it, and we will end with it; but, before I get to the prayer, there are two or three other things I want to hold up for your admiration.

I. First, let us ADMIRE THIS WOMAN’S IMPORTUNITY. I do not hesitate to say, although I am speaking in a large assembly, that there is not one person here who ever did experience such rebuffs, or meet with such difficulties as this woman did. There may be some who would have a right to stand up, and say, “Ah, sir! you do not know my experience; my coming to Christ was very hard.” I do not know your experience, my clear friend; but I feel sure of this, that your experience cannot be compared with hers, for, in her coming to Christ, she had to surmount greater difficulties than you ever knew, and greater difficulties than any of you are realizing now, even though you should be almost driven to despair by the obstacles in your pathway. This poor woman had three special difficulties.

The first was, that the Lord Jesus Christ did not answer her cries: “He answered her not a word.” He was himself the Word, and yet, he did not give her the word she wanted. Jesus is the blessed Spokesman of the Eternal, by whom God breaks the infinite silences, and speaks to man; yet “He answered her not a word.” He was in the habit of answering prayer, yet he gave her not a single word of response to her petition. He had never been known to turn away a sincere suppliant without a kind reply, yet he gave her not one word. But even then, though she had not a word from Christ to hang her hopes upon, — not a promise, not a single word of invitation or encouragement, — yet still she clung to Christ, and would not let him go until he blessed her.

There is not one of you, dear friends, who can say that our Lord Jesus Christ has not spoken to you, for here is a Book full of his words, — a Book, mark you, not a line of which this poor woman had ever seen. She lived in a region where the Old Testament was altogether unknown, and the New Testament was not then written. But you have the words of Christ in your homes. They lie upon the pew-ledge in front of you. You can carry them in your pockets where yet you go. A two-penny Testament can be had by everybody, so it cannot be said that Jesus Christ has not given you a word. Then how often have you had good words from Christ through the preacher of the gospel! How often has he let fall handfuls on purpose for you, poor troubled soul! You have had sweet words, gracious words,-“ Wonderful words of life,” — and plenty of them, too. Therefore I say that there is one point in which this woman’s difficulties far exceeded yours; and as she pressed on until she gained the desire of her heart, will not you do likewise? Do you not remember how the men of Nineveh hung on to nothing but this, — “Who can tell?” It was a very poor 1ittle nail that they clung to, — “Who can tell?” Yet they did cling to it, and they found mercy. There have been some who have found comfort in what God has not said: “I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain:” so will not you find comfort in what he has said? Especially may you be cheered and blessed by such words as these: — “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” “I will pardon them whom I reserve.” “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Now, between “not a word,” and all these words, what a difference there is, and so, what a difference there is between you and this poor woman! How much you have to help you! Come, then, to Jesus, come even now, pleading the promise, and you shall not go away without the blessing.

Next, this woman had another great difficulty, and that was, that all the disciples were against her. They said to Jesus, “Send her away, for she crieth after us. She disturbs us; we cannot hear your exposition. We cannot be heard ourselves, which is also very important. ‘Send her away, send her away.’ She has such a harsh voice; she does not speak our language, she talks in the tongue of Tyre or Sidon, and we do not like it. She is so troublesome, she is first bawling out after John, and next she is calling after Peter; there is no keeping her quiet. ‘Send her away, send her away.’“ Now, although this must have been a very secondary thing compared with Christ’s silence, yet it may have bred in her heart great discouragement, and she may have felt in her spirit that she could not long hold out; yet she did hold out until the blessing came. Now, I venture to say that there is no one here who is seeking the Savior who has had Christ’s disciples against him. O dear heart, there are many in this house to-night who are not against you! They would do anything they could for you, to cheer you, and bring you to the Savior. I know some who, when this service is over, will very likely waylay you in the aisles. They are always looking out to find persons who may be under concern of soul, to see whether they can utter a word of encouragement to them. They will not say, “Send her away.” They will want you to stop a little while, and will talk to you very earnestly about your soul, and try to point out to you the way into life and peace. I am sure that you have not the difficulty that this poor woman had. If you had, I would still exhort you to imitate her importunity; but, as you have not, let her importunity shame you if you are in the least degree backward, and come you at once boldly to the Savior, and say, “I must now find the mercy that I need; I cannot go away until I do find it.” God grant that many of you may make that good resolution!

There was, however, a third discouragement which must have been greater than the other two, and that was that, when the Savior did speak, he said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” It was as much as saying, “I am not sent to this woman of Tyre and Sidon; I can do nothing for her within the bounds of my commission;” and yet, when the woman heard that sentence, instead of being daunted by it, she came to Christ, and worshipped him, and said, “Lord, help me.” I may be addressing someone who has been thinking over the doctrine of election, — a doctrine which ought not to give trouble to anybody, but it often does. It may be that you have said in your heart, “What if I should not be elected? What if the blessed things of the covenant of grace should not be for me? “I beseech you, do not be persuaded by Satan to stop there; but go to Jesus just as this woman did. She seemed to sayre herself, “Whether this Christ of God be sent to a Tyre and Sidon woman or not, I shall go and worship him, and cry, ‘Lord, help me.’“ She heard that Christ was not sent to that country; but she seemed to say, “If thou art not sent, Lord, yet still I am here. If thou wast not sent to me, perhaps I am sent to thee. She felt that there must be some way of getting over the difficulty. She believed that, by some kind of ingenuity, even if she could not ten how, the difficulty could be removed. This glorious, loving Savior, into whose radiant face she looked, could not repulse her; she felt that he could not. And, dear friends, I can no more believe that Christ will repulse a sinner than I can look up to the sun, and believe that it will ever freeze me. It cannot be; it is too bright, too full of warmth, to turn me into ice; and I cannot look into the Savior’s face, and believe that he will ever cast away a poor soul that comes to him. So, somehow or other, this poor woman seemed to feel, “I cannot get over the difficulty, but I will go round it.” That is always a wise method; for my own part, I have learned often what a joy it is to cast anchor under the lee of a great impassable thing that I cannot understand. I like, if I am travelling, to see the river open up, and to find my barque gliding gently along between the surrounding hills; but if, all of a sudden, I find that the channel is entirely blocked up, I am just as comfortable if the sailor lets down the anchor, and we spend the night under the lee of some big, towering rock. Why not? It is very well to understand things; but I do not know that we are much the better for understanding anything. Understanding sometimes puffs us up, but we are always benefited by believing. So, my friend, when thou comest hard and fast against something which thou canst not get over, do not try to get over it, but just pull up there, and say, “If it be so, let it be so; but, anyhow, God is gracious, Christ is merciful, and I am going to cast myself at the crucified Savior’s feet, and to trust in him.”

Now this woman, notwithstanding this terrible discouragement, after actually hearing the Savior say, “I am not sent to you,” yet nevertheless persevered with her appeal. None of you have ever heard him say that you are not among the elect. Why should not you be elect as well as anybody else? None of you have ever climbed to heaven, and found that your names were not written in the roll of God’s chosen, and you never will climb there to read it at all. All such things are hidden from your sight. Your business is to cling to Christ’s dear feet, and never let him go until he grants you the desire of your heart.

That is my first remark, — admire this woman’s importunity.

II. Now for a few minutes I invite you, clear friends, to ADMIRE HER RESORT TO THE LORD HIMSELF: “Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me,” She is to be admired, first, because she turned away from the disciples. I could not help smiling as I read just now what the disciples said, “Send her away; for she crieth after us.” Poor soul, she never cried after them; she knew better than to do that. It was their own self-importance that made them think so. If she had begun to cry after them, their black looks would soon have stopped her from doing so; but she did not make such a mistake as that. “Oh, no!” she seemed to say, “it is not after you that I am crying; neither Peter, nor James, nor John, can give me the help I need.” So is it with us; we are not crying after the saints, as some poor souls are doing, hoping that saints, long since dead and buried, who have done with this mortal life, may make intercession for them before the throne of God. No; we are not crying after them; if any of you are, I pray you cease that folly, and cry to the Master, and let this be your cry, “Lord, help me.” Not, “Peter, help me,” nor, “Mary, help me;” but, “Jesus, help me;” “Lord, help me.” He can do it, but the saints cannot. They were poor sinners who had to be saved by grace like the rest of us, and they are singing now to the praise of the God of grace, but they have no grace to give to us. Mind, dear friends, that you never think of going to them, but go straight away to the Master, as this poor woman did: “Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.”

She went, also, away from all prescribed paths. The Savior seemed to say to her that there was no way for her to come; he did but seem to tell her that the road at present was intended specially for the house of Israel, and he had come to bless them beyond all others. But the woman seems to say, “If there is not a road open, I must make one; I will go over hedge and ditch, but I must find my Savior.” Her heart was so strongly resolved upon coming to Christ that, whether she came in the orthodox way or not, she must come. Oh, how I wish that some poor sinner here might be so stirred up with the same desire that he would say, “I must find the Lord Jesus somehow. If I have heard one minister, and God has not blessed him to me, I will hear another; and if hearing the gospel is not blessed to me, I will sit up at night, and read the Scriptures; and if the Bible is not blessed to me, I will go on my knees, and cry to God for mercy, and I will never cease crying to him till the mercy comes. For, somehow or somewhere, I must get it. I must find God in Christ Jesus, that I may obtain the salvation of my soul.”

Yet once more, dear friends, I admire this woman, and I hold her up as a model for your imitation, because she resorted to Christ. Away from the disciples, and from all prescribed paths, she went to HIM. Yes, that is the beauty of it: “Then came she and worshipped HIM.” She fell at his feet, and her prayer was, “Lord, help me.” She did not prescribe how she should be helped, for she Believed in his wisdom. She did not dictate to him what he should do, for she believed in his judgment and prudence. All she said was, “Lord, help me.” She did not think that her case was beyond his power, for she believed in his almightiness, so she prayed, “Lord, help me.” She did not think her case could be beyond his pity, so she pleaded, “‘Lord, help me.’ True, I am only a Gentile clog; but, ‘Lord, help me.’ I am a Syrophenician woman; but, ‘Lord, help me.’ I have a poor daughter possessed of a devil; but, ‘ Lord, help me.’“ She pleads thus with Christ, and it is wonderful what such pleading can accomplish. Do not come here, and merely repeat certain prayers, do not go home to your closet simply to say prayers as if to nobody or to everybody; but get absolutely to the feet of Jesus, and plead with him, saying, “Lord, I will not let thee go except thou bless me,” for that is the kind of prayer that opens the gates of heaven, the prayer to which nothing can be denied.

III. Before I come to the closing portion of my discourse, I ask you to ADMIRE THIS WOMAN’S APPROPRIATION OF HIS DAUGHTER’S CASE TO HERSELF. I urge you who seek the conversion of others to follow her example. Notice, she did not pray, “Lord, help my daughter;” but, “Lord, help me.” At first, she pleaded for her daughter, and mentioned the circumstances of her case; but as she grew more intense and fervent in her supplication, there seemed to be no division between the mother and the daughter. The mother had absorbed the daughter; the great heart of the pleading one seemed to contain the one pleaded for with all her agony: “Lord, help me.” Do you catch the idea? When you are pleading with God for your Sunday-school class, it is not simply Mary, and Jane, and Sarah, that you pray for, but you have incorporated all those girls into yourself, and therefore you plead, “Lord, help me.” And you, my brother, need to get to this point if you are really to prevail tot your scholars, that you will not be asking for John, and Thomas, and William alone, But you have so identified yourself with John, and Thomas, and William, that, if they are lost, it almost seems as if you are lost; and if they are saved, it will Be another heaven to you for each one of them to be in heaven. You know that, when Elisha restored the Shunammite’s dead son, “he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child.” Then, as it were, they became one, and then it was that the new life came through the prophet into the dead child; and this is the way to pray for our scholars and our hearers. I am sure that, if a minister wants conversions, he must identify himself with his people. There are people, nowadays, who make a difficulty about Moses praying for Israel, “If thou wilt forgive their sin — ; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written;” and they raise questions about Paul being willing to be separated from Christ for his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh. Oh, but there is no difficulty in the matter if you once get to feel such an intense love for the souls of men that you would, as it were, pawn your own salvation, and count it little if you might but bring the people to the Savior’s feet. A man who has never felt that willingness does not yet know the true throb of a pastor’s heart; he has not been ordained to be a shepherd if he would not lay down his life for the flock, if it were necessary. When you get to that point, then the blessing will come. “Lord, help me — me; for, in my own proper self, I do contain these people for whom my prayer is put up.”

IV. Now, lastly, — yet it is the chief part of the subject, — I want YOU TO ADMIRE THIS WOMAN’S PRAYER ITSELF, I began my discourse by pointing out to you its sententiousness, its freedom from superfluities. Now, again I bid you admire it for the same reason. Notice that it asks everything in one little word: “Lord, help me.” It seems to me to be a very comprehensive prayer, for although it uses but one very small verb, that verb means a great deal more than at first sight it appears to mean. When the woman said, “Lord, help me,” she did not mean what we generally mean by help; that is, “Lord, do something for me, and I will do the rest.” She could not do anything towards the casting out of the devil from her child, so by that word “help” she meant, “Lord, do it all,” for that is the kind of help Christ gives. Have you ever heard of the poor half-witted being who, nevertheless, had sense enough to understand the gospel? Someone said to him, “Well, Johnny, how were you saved?” “Oh!” he answered,“Jesus Christ did his part, and I did all the rest.” “And pray Johnny, what did you do?” “Well,” he said, “Jesus Christ saved me, and I did all I could to prevent it;” and that is about all “the rest” that any of us ever do. We do not really help in the matter of our salvation, for we cannot; it is Christ’s work from first to last, and grace must have all the praise for it. Blessed be that sovereign grace of God!

But that word “help” did mean just this, — “Lord, wilt thou do all that is wanted? I am in a dreadful fix; I cannot cure my poor child, and I cannot pray aright about her. Thou hast almost shut my mouth by that last word, ‘I am not sent,’ yet ‘Lord, help me.’ Teach me what to ask for; teach me how to ask for it; teach me what to kink of next; teach me what to do next. Never was a poor creature in such a plight as I am; Lord, do get me out of it; do save my poor daughter.” It was asking everything in a word which did not at first sight seem to mean much: “Lord, help me.”

And, if you notice, the prayer was one which brought Christ and the poor woman together: “Lord” and “me.” And here is the link: “Lord, help me.” Some of you poor creatures want to get to Christ by doing something for him. You have undertaken a very heavy task; you will never get to him that way. The only way is for him to stoop down, and do something for you; so you shall go into partnership, and have fellowship with one another; and if you agree to this arrangement, he will find everything that is needed, and you shall have it all given to you gratis. Those must be the terms, -that he, from first to last, must do all, and be all, and have all the glory. If you will agree to that condition, the company may be started at once; and what a blessed company it shall be,-the Lord and yourself linked together by that little word “help “ — “Lord, help me.” If you are to succeed as this woman did, you must imitate her perseverance even in spite of Christ’s apparent refusal to help her. This is a lesson which is taught us in many other parts of the Word. She that wins her suit with the unjust judge is the importunate widow who will not be refused. He that gets the loaves at midnight is the man who continues knocking till his friend rouses himself, and gives him all he asks. O beloved, plead thus with God! Plead earnestly, plead for your salvation as you would for your life; lift up the cry, —

Wealth and honor I disdain,Earthly comforts all are vain;These can never satisfy,Give me Christ, or else I die,” —

and you shall surely have Christ, for he never finally refuses to listen to such pleading as that.

Lastly, dear friends, I commend this prayer to you because it such a handy prayer. You can use it when you are in a hurry, you can use it when you are in a fright, you can use it when you have not time to bow your knee. You can use it in the pulpit if you are going to preach, you can use it when you are opening your shop, you can use it when you are rising in the morning. It is such a handy prayer that I hardly know any position in which you could not pray it: “Lord, help me.” Often, when you are brought to some great emergency, you may use it, and feel as if it was the best prayer that was ever composed. Do you suffer much? Do you sometimes fall back upon the pillows feeling that you cannot bear any more? Does it not seem natural for you then to pray, “Lord, help me”? Do you often lie awake at night? Have you counted the clock round in your seasons of suffering? Oh, then, I know that you will feel that this is a good prayer to offer in the middle of the night: “Lord, help me.” Do you wake up in the morning just as weary as when you went to bed? Are you gradually losing strength? Are you slowly wasting away? Do they tell you that you will soon be gone? Oh, then, as the clock ticks, methinks it may remind you of this prayer, “Lord, help me. Lord, help me. Lord, help me.” It is a sick woman’s prayer, — a sick child’s prayer, — a sick man’s prayer. It will suit any of you at such times.

Or are some of you losing a great deal of money just now? Is business very bad? Are you out of a situation? Have you walked up and down the streets, and worn your shoes out, and yet found nothing to do? I think this prayer will suit you at this moment, and all day tomorrow, “Lord, help me; Lord, help me;” — for he can, you know. The keys of providence are not taken out of his hand yet. He knoweth how to deliver the righteous out of all their troubles. Go you to him with this prayer, “Lord, help me.” Are any of you very much tempted from without by surroundings that are peculiarly dangerous? Are you tempted by Satan? Are any of you exposed just now to some very special trial? Have your feet almost gone? Have your steps well-nigh slipped? Now here is a prayer that will just hold you up, and keep you from falling: “Lord, help me. Lord, help me.” “No,” says someone, “you have not touched my case yet” Perhaps you are going to a new situation, or you are just undertaking fresh duties, and you wonder how you will be able to fill the sphere which was occupied so well by the one who went before you. Well, do not enter upon that new sphere without this prayer, “Lord, help me.” If you pray that prayer from your heart, you will be succored; you shall play the man, and do well for God and for his truth. Possibly yea are already in a situation where you are under great strain; where, perhaps, your physical strength is overtaxed, and your mind is depressed by the wear and tear of a cruel servitude. Well, if you cannot get out of it, pray the Lord to help you in it, and let this be your constant cry, “Lord, help me. Lord, help me.” It is wonderful how he can aid and direct his people.

And you, young brother, against the door, you came just inside, hoping to get a message that will guide you in your present difficulty; here is that message. Go home and pray about it; cry to God about it; and you shall have direction; and let this be your cry, “Lord, help me; Lord, help me;” and he will help you. Is there a dear little girl here who wants to find Christ? I give her this short prayer to pray to-night, “Lord, help me.” Is there a greyheaded man here, leaning upon his staff, who has not yet found the Savior? Then, as you sit in that aisle, cry, “Son of David, Jesus Christ the Lord, do help and save me;” and he will. This prayer will do to live with; this prayer will do to die with. It is a prayer for those who usually worship in this place; it is a prayer for the people in the streets all around; it is a prayer for everybody and a prayer for every place wherever you may be: “Lord, help me.” Blessed be his name, the Lord will answer this prayer! He has helped his people; he still is Israel’s Helper; he will be their Helper even to the end. Therefore, put. your trust in him, and go forward with confidence into the future; and may his gracious presence be with you evermore! Amen.

Exposition

MATTHEW 15. 10-31

Verses 10. And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a many but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

True religion does not consist in meats and drinks, in feasting or in fasting. It is not that which goes into us, but that which comes out or us, which is the main matter.

12. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?

They thought a very great deal of the opinion of the Pharisees; and they were greatly concerned because their Master had offended them. These Pharisees set themselves up as the judges of everything that was correct and proper in religion; yet Christ offended them by his plain speaking.

13. But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

The truth is often intended to be a rooter up. I have no doubt that our Lord said many things which had no other intention than the discovery of these deceitful men to themselves and others, that their baneful influence might be destroyed. Our Savior was a true iconoclast, a great image-smasher; and these men, who were the chief icons or images of the day, had to be broken down. He therefore put the truth in the very form that would offend them.

14. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

Our Lord did not soften or tone down his previous language, but he revealed the true character of the false guides by whom so many were deluded.

15. Then answered Peter and said unto him,

Declare unto us this parable. “We do not understand it; what is its meaning?”

16, 17. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

And so there is an end of it.

18. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the hearty and they defile the man.

The main matter to be considered is the heart, not the mouth, and other parts of the body. Note how our Lord, by this great truth, puts the axe to much that looks very fair stud good, and cuts it down as worthless. If we serve God with the heart, there is the core of true religion; but if not, we may have as many ceremonial washings as there are hours in the day and days in the year, and we may be careful to avoid this article, of diet and to feed on that, to wear this garment and not to wear that, and to observe this day and not that; but all this outward religion will be of no avail whatever, if our heart is not savingly affected by the grace of God.

19-21. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, b!asphemies: these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

He did not like the Pharisees well enough to stay among them. His own word concerning them was, “Let them alone;” and he did very severely let them alone: “Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.” He must not go into Tyre and Sidon, for his commission for the present was confined to Palestine, the chosen land. Do not regret this, dear friends. To have extended our Savior’s work over a greater area, would not have been really to increase it; and it was very important that, during the very short active lifetime of our Savior, — a little more than three years, — he should confine his operations to a comparatively small district, so as to produce a permanent result there which would afterwards radiate over the whole world. So our Savior, who knew what was best for men, confined himself within a very narrow sphere; and, my brethren and sisters, I am not sure that we are always wise when we want a great sphere. I have myself sometimes envied the man with about five hundred people to watch over, who could see them all, know them all, and enter into sympathy with them all, and so could do his work well. But, with so large a number as I have under my charge, what can one man do? And you, my brethren may increase the quantity of your acreage, and yet grow no larger crops. You may think that you will succeed better on a wider scale; but if you do not do so well in the greater field, it might have been wiser to narrow your boundaries rather than to widen them.

However, if our Lord might not go into Tyre and Sidon, he went as near to them as he could: “Jesus departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.” And if you, dear friends, think there is a limit to your sphere of usefulness, always go as near as ever you can to the limit; go up to the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

22. And, behold, —

For it is a great wonder that such a person should have come to Jesus:“And, behold,” —

22, 23. A woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievosly vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word.

This was another marvel, — a silent Savior, — silent when it would have been so natural for him to speak a kind and gracious word: “He answered her not a word.”

23. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Bend her away; for she crieth after us.

“‘She crieth after us,’ and it is very important that we should not be troubled.” We disciples are apt to think so, especially if we get a little lifted up, and come to be apostles: “Send her away; for she crieth after us.” She knew better than to cry after the disciples, it was the Master whose help she wanted. Some sinners are a great nuisance, they make so much noise in seeking Christ; and what a mercy it is that they do so! Oh, to have such troublesome people about us all day long, and a1l night long, too! It would be worth while to be vexed in this style. But the disciples said to Jesus, “Send her away; for she crieth after us.”

24. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

“Therefore, I cannot attend to her.”

25, 26. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet-“

It is not comely, it is not fit,” —

26. To take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.

The original means, the little dogs that play with the children; they lie under the table, and pick up the crumbs that their masters (the children) let fall. The woman caught at that expression at once —

27. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.

“I may be only a dog, and these Jews round about you are your children, but I have got in among them, and I am looking for a crumb or two as it falls from their table.” This was grand faith on her part, and it was speedily rewarded.

28-31. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them: insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

The Savior appears to have gone this journey on purpose to bless this woman and her daughter; and, having wrought the miracle, he went where great multitudes came to him, bringing their sick folk to be healed, and the result was: “They glorified the God of Israel.” There may be some poor soul here in as great distress as this woman was; if so, may that one get a blessing; and then may the blessing spread through all the neighborhood till multitudes are saved!

17. Preparing For The Week Of Prayer No. 3282

“ And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and then was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saint, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.”Revelation 8:3,4

I SUPPOSE that there will be very little doubt among you that the “Angel” mentioned here was either our Lord Jesus Christ himself or a special angelic messenger sent to represent him. You remember that, under the Mosaic dispensation, there was to be an altar of shittim wood, overlaid with pure gold, and that Aaron was to burn sweet incense thereon every morning and every evening. In like manner, our great High Priest is here represented as standing at the golden altar which is before the throne of God, having in his hand a golden censer full of incense, the fragrance of which would give acceptance to the prayers of the saints for his sake.

I am going to talk to you, first, concerning the prayers of the saints; secondly, concerning the intercession of Christ, and then we shall notice the result of the sending of Christ’s intercession with the saints’ prayers.

I. So first, I am to speak about THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS What a very interesting and delightful spectacle the Christian Church will present during the coming week of united prayer! It is an everyday eight to see Christians at prayer, for believers are for “pray without ceasing;” but, doubtless, as long as the Church exists and men and women are what they are, there always will be special seasons when the fervor of the suppliants becomes more ardent than at ordinary times, when their desires grow more intense and their prayers therefore ascend in a greater volume before the eternal throne. We sing that-

“Satan trembles when he sees,The weakest saint upon his knees;” -then

how much more must he tremble when he sees thousands upon thousands of the people of God drawing near with one heart to the throne of the heavenly grace! Next to the angels in heaven praising God I think the fairest sight that ever was seen is that of the saints of earth, of almost all names and denominations gathered in concert around the mercy-seat. Notwithstanding all the divisions among Christians, there are certain truths upon which they are all agreed, and this will be plainly manifested during the coming week. We shall see, met together in the same house of prayer, brethren holding various sentiments; we shall see some who love the Lord Jesus Christ in the Established Church and others who are outside the establishment uniting heartily in prayer; we shall see those who worship God in a liturgical sense and those who worship him without a liturgy joining with one heart and mind in imploring a blessing upon the one common cause of Jesus Christ, and upon the world at large.

Moreover, these united prayers will be going up all over the world; at least, it will be so be a weary large extent. You may journey round the globe with the sun, and wherever you go you shall see brethren assembled in prayer. It is said of the Queens dominions that the sun never sets upon them, and it may be said this week of the earnest united cries of the Lord’s people that they will arise from practically every land on which the sun shall shine. God shall be worshiped day and night, not merely by a few stragglers here and there, but by the great bulk of the

“One army of the living God.”

This is true every day, be a greater or lesser degree, but it will be made more apparent during the days of this week, and I, for one, rejoice that the prayers of the saints shall thus together ascend before the throne of God. It is interesting, too, to notice the subjects that have been selected as themes for special prayer; I think the Lord has guided the committee of the Evangelical Alliance in the selection. We are requested on Monday to present “ penitential confession of sin, and the acknowledgment of personal, social, and national blessings, with supplication for divine mercy through the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ.” This is a good beginning for the week of prayer, it should rightly commence with repentance, the salty tears of penitence will be an acceptable offering, just as, under the Levitical law it was commanded, “with all thine offering thou shalt offer salt.” Then on Tuesday we are asked to pray for the conversion of the ungodly, for the success of missions among Jesus and Gentiles, and for a divine blessing to accompany the efforts made to evangelize the unconverted of all ranks and all around us” What a comprehensive subject, taking in both Jews and Gentiles, both bond and free, and including those who are abroad with those who are around us at home! When on Wednesday our supplications are asked “for the Christian Church and ministry; for Sunday-schools and all other Christian agencies; and for the increase of spiritual life, activity, and holiness in all believers.” Here again is a comprehensive subject. How much we who are in the ministry need your prayers! “Brethren pray for us.” The whole Church needs prayer, but especially the captains in the Lord’s ranks, who have to be in the thick of the fight with the shots of the enemy lying all around them. Then on Thursday the subjects for intercession are “for the afflicted and oppressed; that slavery may be abolished; that persecution may cease; and that Christian love may expand to the comfort and relief of the destitute in all lands.” I do most know how some professing Christians will be able be join in the supplication that slavery may be abolished, but we can unite in it with a pure heart fervently. May the Lord graciously hear that prayer; and if he shall hear it from the battlefields America, we shall bless his name even for the scourge of war if that accursed slavery can be ended. Then on Friday we are urged to pray “for nations, for kings, and all who, are in authority; for the cessation of war- for the prevalence of peace; and for the holy observance of the Sabbath; “ and then to conclude, on Saturday, “generally for the large outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and the revival and extension of pure Christianity throughout the world.” Now when the Church comes before God with such large requests as these, I do earnestly trust that the united supplication will be the means of bringing down one of the greatest and richest blessings that the world has ever relived. God grant that it may be so!

“Who but thou, Almighty Spirit.Can the heathen world reclaim?Men may preach, but till thou favor,Heathens will be still the same Mighty SpiritWitness to the Savior’s name,“ All our hopes, and prayers, and labors,Must be vain without thine aid:But thou wilt not disappoint us;All is true that thou hast said: Gracious Spirit,O’er the world thine influence spread.”

But turning away from that aspect of the Church’s prayers which will be presented during the coming week, I want you to notice some points suggested by the text concerning the prayer; of the saints. The first is the communion of all prayer. What does the angel do with the prayers of all saints? Does he put one of them here and another there? Does he, put one on the altar and another under the alter? No, no; he puts them all Into the golden censer. Here comes a praying full of faith from a warm and loving heart filled with ardent desires for God’s glory, and behind it comes another, a poor starveling prayer; it is sincere, but it comets from the lips of Mr. Little faith; there, is not much fervor about it, but it is as much as that feeble brother could pray. Both these prayers are put into the some golden censer. Some of you Christian people have believing friends in Australia; they pray, and their prayers get into the censer; you pray, and your prayers get there too. Our fathers prayed, and their prayers were put into the golden censer; we pray, and our children will pray after us, but our prayers and theirs and our fathers’ shall all go into the same censor. What communion there is here, then, among all believers in Jesus! When you really draw near to God, and other saints draw near to him, you draw near to them also. Nay more, since Jesus Christ himself prays, when you pray, you have fellowship with him; and as the Holy Spirit inspires your prayers if they were according to the mind of God, you have fellowship, also with the Spirit, and through him with the Father. Thus prayer becomes a glorious bond which binds God and all his people together in on a sacred bundle of life; and to be without prayer is to be outside that blessed bundle. The next thing I ask you to observe is the universality of prayer. The incense was given to the angel “that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” I have already pointed out to you that Jesus Christ takes the prayers that come from all sorts of saints, now I want you to notice that he takes all the true prayers that come to him. There are some prayers that are so little and so feeble that you would think that they never could get to God at all; but it is with them as it was with some of the creatures in Noah’s Ark. I never can comprehend how the snails managed to get into the ark, yet they did; they must have started very early. There are some people’s prayers which seem to travel almost as slowly as those snails did, yet they do get to heaven, and they are presented by Christ with all the rest of the saints’ prayers before his Father’s throne. If you take a single drop of water from the sea, and analyse it, you will find that the same elements are in it that are in the whole ocean; so, if I can breathe but one sincere desire towards heaven, if my prayer is merely-

“The upward glancing of an eyeWhen none but God is near,”-all

the elements of prevailing prayer are in that one desire or that one childlike game. A diamond is a diamond be it never so small; it may be so tiny that the Queen would not put it into the most prominent place in her crown, still it might be permitted to glitter somewhere. Being a diamond, it must not be thrown away, for it has its value. So, my brother, your prayer may never edify your brethren, it may not be suitable to be presented in public but if your soul is in it, if your heart goes out towards God through your poor feeble prayer, it will be so precious in his sight that he will not have it thrown away. In the day when Christ makes up his jewels, that tiny gem shall be presented to his Father as well as the greatest and costliest jewels under his charge. I say this because I am aware that there are many Christians who think their prayers are not heard because they are such poor things. But we are not impartial or wise judges of the value of our own prayers. I am persuaded that, after, when we think we have prayed as we ought, we have only been feeding our own vanity, and that, at other times, when we have found that we could not pray, that we could hardly express a single desire, but could only sigh and groan before the Lord, then we have really prayed, and God has heard our prayer. Whatever our own feelings may be about the matter, it is certain that every true prayer gets into the golden censer that our great High Priest swings before the eternal throne. There is not one of these birds that we send up towards heaven which does not really reach its destination; if its own wings are not strong enough to bear it up so high, Christ reaches his almighty hand down, and lifts it all the rest of the way. Somehow, all the true prayers of all the saints must get into the golden censer in Christ’s hand.

Note also the acceptability of prayer. God has made provision for ensuring the acceptance of his people’s prayers. “There was given unto the angel much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.” It is that incense which makes our poor prayers acceptable to God, it is not the merit of our prayers that secures the gracious answers to them, but the power of Christ’s prevailing intercession. Our pleas would be useless if they were presented by themselves, it is his plea that always avails with his Father. Jesus Christ has been appointed to this high office so that he may take our supplications, and present them before the throne of the Most High then our government appoints certain officers to look after the affairs of the poor people of this land, there ought not to be any needy ones applying in vain to sheen for help; and, Christian, as Jesus Christ has been entrusted with the task of presenting your prayers acceptably before his Father, you may rest assured that he will accomplish it, so be of good courage, and know assuredly that he will add the “much incense” of his intercession to your supplicants, and so shall they ascend acceptably before God in a cloud of sweetly smelling smoke. No true prayer from the heart of a true child of God shall miss its mark; all shall reach the heavenly target. Your petition, my brother or sister, shall meet with acceptance as well so mine. Do not think, believer, that God will ignore your heartfelt supplications even though you are almost unknown among your fellow Christians and you feel yourself to be the least of all saints, if you dare to think that you are numbered amongst the saints at all. Do not imagine, because you could most put two sentences together at the prayer-meeting, that therefore your prayers do not reach the ear and heart of God. I can assure you that your petitions are put into the golden censer just as surely as were those of John, the beloved apostle be whom this wondrous Revelation was given; and when the sacred fire is applied to them, they yield as sweet a fragrance to the Most High as do the supplications of the greatest and noblest of the Lord’s children. According to the text, the smoke of the incense added up before God with the prayers of all the saints; none of them would have been acceptable without the incense, but with the incense all ascended up before God.

II. Now, secondly, I must speak briefly concerning JESUS CHRIST’S INTERCESSION. And first I beg you to notice what a fit person Jesus Christ is to intercede for us. Hie is man; he knows the imperfection of our prayers, he understands our needs and frailties, and can sympathize with us in presenting our petitions before his Father’s throne. He is man, who has finished his own work, and can therefore take our work into his hands, and bring it to perfection. He is ever acceptable to his Father, so that, when he presents our suit before his Father’s throne, he has such a claim to be heard because of all that he has done and suffered that his advocacy of our case must prevail. Moreover, he is also God, “the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” If I can have the well-beloved Son of God to plead for me, what other intercessor can I want? Is he not the best advocate of whom your heart can conceive, Nay, more; if he had not told you that it is so, could you ever have dreamed that he, who is the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person, would have condescended to become intercessor for such worthless worms as we are? O thou glorious Christ, in thy wondrous person as both man and God we worship thee with all our hearts, and we bless the Lord that thou art our great High Priest with the golden censer, into which our poor prayers shall be put, and then, when perfumed with the much incense of thy wondrous intercession, shall be presented acceptably before thy Father in heaven!

Having noticed the fitness of our Intercessor’s person, consider next the fitness of the place where he pleads. He is represented as standing at the altar, when he pleads for us with his Father, it is on the ground of his own atoning sacrifice. When he stands at the altar he does, as it were, say to his Father, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; my hands and feet were pierced by the nails and my side by the soldier’s spear; hear me on behalf of those for whom I laid down my life.” Thus our great intercessor speaks with authority when he pleads for us before his Father’s throne. Believer, you are; never so prevalent in prayer as when you stand at the altar of atonement, your supplications are sure to succeed when you plead the precious blood of Jesus; so you may be certain that Jesus will not stand at the altar in vain. Shall the Father see his Son’s blood shed for many for the remission of their sins, and yet not yield to his intercession? O God, canst thou remember thy Son’s agonies and groans in Gethsemane, and yet refuse his requests? Canst thou think of all that he endured at Golgotha, and yet not hear him when he intercedes for those for whom he there laid down his life? Oh, no, that is impossible! Jesus must succeed when he stands at the altar, and presents the prayers of his people before his Father’s throne.

“Jesus, my great High Priest,Offer’d his blood, and died;My guilty conscience seeksNo sacrifice beside.His powerful blood did once atone;And now it pleads before the throne.”

Note next how Christ presents the prayers of the saints to his Father. He does not offer them, just as they are, but he adds to them that “much incense” which makes them acceptable to God. One thing that Jesus does with our prayers is to make them correct here they are in error. Sometimes dear friends come to me, and ask me to stand petitions far them to certain people who may be able to help them; but I often find that the words are not spelt correctly, the grammar is faulty, and the petition itself is not very plain; so I say to the petitioners, “I know what it is that you want, so I will write out your petition, and add my own name to it, and then it may succeed.” So, dear friends, we bring to Christ our poor petitions, all blotted and misspelt, but he does not present them as they are, he knows what we mean, and what we, need, so he writes them out for us, and puts his own signature at the bottom, and thus they become prayers upon which God can look with approval.

The text says that there was given to the angel “much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throng.” There is little enough of our prayers in the golden censer that is in Christ’s hand, but he adds much of his merit to them; and so makes them acceptable to his Father. As the smoke of the incense ascends up before God, perhaps you say, “I never thought that my prayer would smell as sweetly as that.” No, it would not have done so by itself, but Jesus Christ added them much incense to it, and that make it so fragrant. When you say, “My prayer is so poor that it will never prevail with God,” you do not know what it will be when Christ has added his intercession to it. If you could pray a prayer that seemed to you a thousand times better than those you now present, I am most sure that it would really be any better. If you said to yourself, “There, that prayer will do,” it will find its way to God by itself,” I am: certain that it would never reach the throne, of God. But if, when we have prayed, we feel that we must have Christ’s intercession to make our prayers acceptable, he will add the “much incense” to our poor petitions, and so they shall prevail with God.

III. Now, lastly, and very briefly, notice THE RESULT OF THE BLENDING OF CHRIST’S INTERCESSION WITH HIS PEOPLE’S PRAYERS. When the much incense was offered with the prayers of the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne, we are told that “the smoke of the incense, which come with the prayer of the saints, ascended up before God;” and, Christian, you may have what you will of God if you know how to get the “much incense” of Christ’s intercession put with your prayers. Church of God, thou mayest utterly rout thy foes if thou canst pray after the fashion. If our prayers have prevailed with God, they will certainly prevail against all our adversaries. The Spartans called their spears their walls, and Christians may well call their prayers their walls. There is a secret of prevailing in prayer which you may know to your heart’s comfort if you will learn the lesson of our text, and then, as your prayer is presented by Christ to his Father, the answer will come down in blessings which many others will be glad to share with you.

I want, in closing, to remind you of the remarkable verses that follow my text. The saints have been praying, and Christ has presented their petitions to his Father; what will be the result of their praying and his intercession? If you did not know the context, you would probably answer, “We expect the whole world to be converted.” But you know that this was not the case; the first of the seven angels blew the trumpet “and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood;” then the second angel sounded, “and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea,” and so it goes on with woe, upon woe, woe upon woe. Is this the answer to the saints’ prayer? Yes, it is even so, whenever the saints are specially earnest in prayer, and whenever their prayers rise up acceptably to God, you may depend upon it that their great adversary, the devil, will not remain quietly at home. What then? Shall we therefore go in fear of the adversary? By no means, he will have all the greater wrath as his time becomes shorter and shorter, but our trust is in him who is mightier than all the powers of darkness, and who will overthrow them all at the appointed time. So be not troubled as you read of all the woes following the blowing of the sex trumpets, but go on reading until you come to the seventh. There you will get the true answer to the saints’ prayers; all those woes must come first to prepare for the glory that is to follow. At, the eleventh chapter, and the fifteenth verse, you will read, “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” So you see that there shall be a glorious end to the prayers of the saints and the intercession of their great High Priest. He shall be proclaimed “King of kings, and Lord of lords,” “and he shall be for ever and ever.” If, during this coming year, we should see more sin, more superstition, more Popery, and more infidelity then we have ever seen before, shall we say that, God did not hear his people’s, prayers? Oh no! all these evils must reach their climax, and then shall come their downfall. It is not altogether an evil thing to have the devil thoroughly awakened. If we should again have a time of persecution, with more blasphemy and more wickedness than we have ever yet known, the Lord’s people would be stirred up to pray more earnestly than ever, to work with greater zeal for his cause, and to fight the good fight of faith as they have never yet done. Sound the trumpet, wake up the warriors of the cross, let every good soldier of Jesus Christ gird his sword upon his thigh, for the first result of prayer is battle, storm, terror, earthquake, and woe upon woe, but the end is that to which the eye of faith looks forward, when the reeling, and the shaking, and the tempest, and the whirlwind are all over. Then shall come the everlasting claim, and the triumphant reign of Jesus. “The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always, abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord: “ and also continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving.”

There may be some here, and doubtless there are some who have never truly prayed in their lives. What a blessed beginning it would be to the week of united prayer if they would begin to pray to-night! But, my brother or my sister, it is no use for you to attempt to pray without faith, “for he that cometh to God must believe that he is” and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” And what is faith? Why, faith is trust, confidence, reliance, upon Christ. If anyone among you will trust the Lord Jesus Christ, to-night if you will put your whole confidence in him, if you will rely upon him for time and eternity, especially if you trust to the merit of his great atoning sacrifice, he will prove himself to be why of your trust and he will save you with his everlasting salvation. Nay, more than that; for, if you do trust Christ, you are saved; for “he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” Then when you are saved, you can join your believing prayers to the prayers of all the rest of the saints, and your prayers shall be put with theirs in the golden censer in the hand of our great High Priest, and he will add to them the “much incense” of his intercession, and so they shall ascend acceptably before the throne of God. May the Lord graciously teach you the holy arts of faith and prayer, for his dear name’s sake! Amen.

Exposition by C. H. Spurgeon

REVELATION 21:22-27; AND 22

Revelation 21:22. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

It has a temple, that better state, that land of the Well-beloved, but not a material temple that John could see, yet he knew that it had a temple “ for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” Where they are is the holy place where all the tribes of the spiritual Israel shall be gathered at the last to go no more out for ever. “ The Lord God Almighty “and the Lamb “ have a glory far greater than Solomon’s temple ever had and far greater even than that later temple which excelled even his in glory.

23. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

We have need of both the sun and the moon while we are in this world if it were not for the great central luminary, the solar system would cease to be, and this earth and the moon and all their sister planets would die out in darkness. But when the sun has been turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, it shall still be said of this holy city, the new Jerusalem, that the glory of God doth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. See how blessedly God and the Lamb are linked together, for Father and Son are truly one. It is pleasant also to reflect that he who is “the light of the world” is also the light of the world that is yet to be revealed: “ the Lamb is the light thereof.”

24. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it.

This is the Church of the latter days; the beginning of the heavenly state, a true type of what the eternal glory of the saints will be. The Church will no longer, like her Lord, be despised and rejected of men; but the highest and greatest among men shall count it an honor and glory to be permitted to share its blessings and triumphs.

25. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

The saints will then be able to bear that eternal noontide for the sun shall not smite them by day; and they will have no need of the night which is now so necessary for resting our wearied bodies and minds, so “there shall be no night there.” There will also be no night of sorrow, no night of sin, no night of death in that blest land of light.

26, 27. And they shall bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life. See Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 1,590, “The Barrier.”

That holy city would itself be defiled if anything that defileth could enter into it. Only they who are written in the Lamb’s book of life shall be found in the glorious city of which he is the light.

Revelation 22:1. And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

Here again we have God and the Lamb uniting in giving that “water of life” which flows down to us by God’s grace through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

2. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. See Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 1,233, “ Healing Leaves.”

The fruit of this “tree of life “ is for all those who have partaken of the water of life; and the tree provides medicine as well as food: “ the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

3-5. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their forehead. And there shall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the lord God giveth them light and they shall reign for ever and ever.

This is the climax of the saints’ blessedness: “ they shall reign for ever and ever.” Thus are they to be like their Lord, for “ he shall reign for ever and ever.” As they shared his reproach, they shall also share his glory.

6-9. And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the saying of the prophecy of this book. And 1 John saw these thing, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

It was a pardonable mistake that John made, but it was a mistake, for even the highest angel in heaven must not be accorded the worship that is due to God alone.

10, 11. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, It him be holy still.

If your character is not what it ought to be, you must not delay your appeal to him who alone can change it, “for the time is at hand” when your character and state will be fixed for ever. As when there is a sharp frost the water in the brooks is soon congealed, so are there influences at work which are consolidating character; beware lest Christ’s coming or the summons through death should find you unprepared, and so cause you to remain for ever just as you now are.

12. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

There will be no change possible when Christ comes as the Judge of all mankind. If you are filthy then, you will be filthy for ever; if you are holy then, you will be holy for ever. The delusion of universal salvation must be banished from the minds of all who believe the Word of God.

13-17. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. See The New Park Street Pulpit, No. 279, “Come and Welcome, “ and Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 1,331, “The Two ‘Comes’;” No. 1,608, “The Double Come”;” and No. 2,636, “The Oft-repeated Invitation.”

This “Come” seems to sound both ways,-from heaven to earth, and from earth to heaven. Christ saith to us, “Come,” and we cry to him, “Come.” Oh, that sinners would be obedient to the divine “ Come,” and “take the water of life freely;” for then would the second coming of Christ be full of joy to them, and not a matter of dread.

18, 19. For I testify unto every man that heard the word of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plague that are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in the book.

God’s revelation is perfect; to add to it or to take from it would equally mar it, and the terrible threatenings here given concerning those who do either the one or the other ought to prevent so great a crime against high heaven. Yet, alas! many have dared and still dare to commit it.

20. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus.

All those centuries ago, Jesus said, “I am coming quickly;” how much nearer his coming must be, and how earnestly we too should cry, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

21. The grace of our lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

The Old Testament ended with a curse, the New Testament ends with benediction. Oh, that we might all have a share of it.